Bobby back at kennels & Shrewdie in a cat 3 sprint comp!

Things are moving for the He Winked At Me syndicate this week!

First off, I dropped off Bobby to Maxine Locke's kennels on Sunday, after approx 6 weeks at home with us while recovering from a hock injury. Although I say at home, he was still kept in a kennel outside and kept on greyhound feed, so he will be fine getting back into the routine.

It was great having him at home for that time, and we tried our best to aid his recovery and keep him in shape at the same time, overall I think he went back looking well, it's now time for the verdict from the vet and then see how he takes back to the track if he is given the all clear. He went off into his kennel wagging his tail when he saw he was sharing a kennel with one of my bitches (Rookies Vision, Fuchsia).

 Bobby pulling at the lead around Maxine's field

As for Shrewdie, he was left off last week, with the hope that he would be accepted for the coral.co.uk sprint competition starting on Thursday at Hove. We eagerly awaited the card to be posted online on Monday afternoon to find out whether or not he was accepted and were ecstatic to find his name in heat 3!

It's an 18 runner comp with the top 2 from each heat going through to the £2,500 final live on sky next Wednesday (7th Sept). He has avoided some big names but being a very good field his race is not easy at all. We are pretty happy with his draw in trap 5 though, after all, he is 1 win from 1 run from the trap in his career(!)

When we saw Shrewdie at the weekend he looked an absolute picture, I cannot wait for Thursday and the trip down to Brighton for his race. I believe he can compete in this class, even though it is his first look at the track.

Shrewdie has constantly surprised us from his time in A10 to becoming the syndicates first Open Race winner, I wouldn't put it past him to surprise the viewers of RPGTV at 8.02pm on Thursday too...

http://www.brightonandhovegreyhoundstadium.co.uk/result/racecardform/2013/08/01racecardform1.pdf

We have an Open winner!!!

SHREWWWWWDIE!!!

What a great night! Shrewdie out in the first race at Romford last night, live on RPGTV. I had filled up on 7/2 early on and then again at 3/1, and the boy did the business!

Maxine's partner, Terry, came to join me and Aisling on the terraces for Shrewdies race and he said himself he doesn't find himself shouting for a dog to win, but Shrewdie had us all screaming!

Not necessarily trapping as well as he had the previous week, this time he had to rely on early pace to be able to go round the bend infront. He was in trap 5 this week and I think that helped him with a better angle to attack the bend from whereas last week he didn't seem to drive it as well!

As soon as he went round he never looked like being caught and the cheering started (seemed like only us in the terraces were on him!). Our first ever open race winner as a syndicate, it's a shame we all couldn't be there but work commitments kept a couple away.

That was followed by a presentation/photo where we got a nice trophy for his win and we got to give him some attention!

I say it quite a bit on this blog but it really has to be said what a great job Maxine, Terry and their team do. When we took Shrewdie over to the Bonville kennels he was A10 at Monmore (and couldn't win). Since then he climbed the grades round Romford over the 400m trip and has now won a Sprint Open! Not only that though, he looks an absolute picture and is so happy in his new kennels. It's clearly a place where dogs are loved and are happy, and i'm excited to see how far Shrewdie can go now on the sprinting scene!

Onto Bobby now for a second, he has now been off 9 weeks after his hairline fracture and is ready to go back to be checked over and hopefully get back on the track himself. He will now be going to Maxine's kennels too, hopefully in around a weeks time when they have had a shuffle round to fit him in (thankyou!).

I will now leave you with a link to Shrewdies race video which I can't stop watching with a big grin on my face!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=CQK7_4M7H-I

Shrewdie does us proud!

So Shrewdie out in his first open race last night, a massive step up in class but one we had hoped he would be able to handle over the 2 bends.

He did not disappoint, a very encouraging run. He showed yet again his ability to time the trap rise to perfection and was first to show. The question mark was whether he had the early pace of the 'big boys' to hold his position to the bend, and although the red got up his inside to crowd him out he was so close to going round infront.

It wasn't just his trapping that impressed us, it was then the way he battled despite being knocked back at the first, and from that point no dog was going faster than him to the line and he gained on 1,2 & 6 to the line, getting up well to finish 3rd. His time was 14.00 less the going -10.

Very impressed with this run and the syndicate had a great night in the Romford Chase restaurant too, made better by Maxine inviting us round to see Shrewdie afterwards which was wonderful.

He will hopefully get another go next Friday night where I will be hoping he can hold his pitch to the bend and we can start OI OI'ing!

Flying trial leads to sprint open!

Wow what a great day!

After months of waiting to see Shrewdie in action over 2 bends it finally happened today in a sprint trial at Romford. I would have been happy with 14.10 for first look on the other side of the track but he really smashed that!

Shrewdie managed 13.81 and the going was later marked -15. So he's managed a calculated 13.66! What a great run!

Maxine was impressed so much she instantly entered him into the sprint open at Romford on Friday night (will be live on RPGTV), and we have just seen the advanced card and he has been accepted! In trap 3 and certainly a big class jump, we are hoping Shrewdie can compete in this level and most importantly, come off sound to race another day!

Again I cannot say enough about how well Maxine and her team have done in taking this dog on and bringing him along, who knows how much more she can get out of him, he only turns 2 this month.

The syndicate will be out in full force on Friday evening with a restaurant table being booked tomorrow for all 4 members and partners. Absolutely cannot wait to see him parading in his first open race, and if he wins, well, you'll hear us!

OI OI.

Kennel visit and sprint trial

On Sunday I went to visit Shrewdie for the first time since his change in kennels. It's been a few months which is a shame but I do also have a couple of other bitches over at Swindon so it's not always easy getting to them too when everyone's 'open days' are on Sundays.

I was however very pleased I made the trip round the M25 on Sunday. Shrewdie looked an absolute picture, and I met Maxine and her partner Terry for the first time. They are a lovely dog loving couple and made an effort to chat to me and my girlfriend while we were there and clearly loved Shrewdie as he didn't stop wagging his tail every time they would call his name.

It's good to see he has settled in brilliantly and is kenneling with a bitch now, something which he never got the chance to do at his previous kennels as he was deemed a vicious dog when kenneled with another. I'm glad Maxine has used her own judgement on this one and he can now enjoy company in the kennels and come out of himself even more.

Sadly, Shrewdie didn't manage to win on Saturday on the upgrade again but did however do another 3.66 sectional, meaning his last 3 runs have been 3.66, 3.67, 3.66. With brilliant pace into the third bend I think it's only fair we get to see if this dog could be a different class over 2 bends.

We get to see whether or not this is possible Tuesday where he is sprint number 8 over 225m. Maxine set a rather high target when I spoke to her on Sunday about it, but I hope she is right!! Let's just hope the dog gives himself the best chance by timing the lids well and then we will see whether he is capable or not. If he's not quick enough then we will have him back in the grades, but if he is, who knows?

Some pictures from the kennel visit :

Shrewdie boosts the bankroll

Bit of a late update really but Shrewdie did the syndicate proud again last Saturday.

Running in A5 after being narrowly beaten previous we were confident he could put up another bold showing. The only thing I was worried about was that he may need the run again as he had been left off the card for a couple of weeks.

How wrong I was. Maxine had him in great shape as usual, she is really getting the best out of the dog and that showed when he flew from the boxes doing a 3.67 sectional. He showed great pace into the third and was strong shoving the heavily bet (4/1 into 5/4) 6 dog at the third bend when he tried to get involved.

He stayed better and won in a time of 24.50 (+20) which we were really pleased with! He is out tomorrow again on the upgrade, but with his timing at the traps he always manages to give himself a chance! I hope he can lead up the A4 dogs and if he does he can go close again. If he continues to show his trapping prowess Maxine will give him a trial over the sprint distance round Romford.

Of the 9 all male litter, 7 of them run opens, with most being blessed with alot of early and running in short 4 bend and 2 bend races. We are still hopeful Shrewdie could possibly compete in the odd sprint open but only time will tell.

Trapping boots!

Shrewdie was on the upgrade this week, running in an A5 at 11.16am on Saturday morning. Although it was a tougher race we were still quietly confident, the dog has led 4 of his 6 races to date round the track and won 3 of those.

He impressed us in this race though probably more than any other. With more early pace around him compared to previous he made the dogs look like they were standing still at the boxes, taking lengths out of them round the first and into the third bend.

The only problem was that trap 2 got a clear run in behind and on the downgrade was always going to run us close. Sadly he got up by a whisker, the first time he got infront was at the line! Shrewdie looked to stay better than before and his early certainly looked impressive, we could not wait to see what sectional he had done.

3.66 was what gbgb website showed, doing 24.69 on a going which we later found out was +20. 3.66! That is flying, we know this dog has early from his 4.3x sectionals round Monmore and his 3.7x at Romford but he really is finding his trapping boots now. His pace into the third turn is still leaving dogs struggling to keep up even though he is climbing in grade.

He is a one trick pony, he will never win without leading, but he is becoming so consistent from the traps he is giving himself a chance every race. I have asked Maxine if we can have a look at what he could possibly do over the sprint distance as I have said from the start he looks more like a 2 bend runner than 4, its just that if you aren't good enough over 2 bends there isn't many tracks that run sprint graded races.

I think Shrewdie could possibly surprise over 2 bends myself and at not quite 2 years old yet he still has improvement in him, which I know Maxine will extract from the dog.

Made worse predictions!

BOOM!

Shrewdie wins at Romford today! My request of "3.75 24.90 Qaw, Aled" was pretty much what he delivered, and was good enough to win by a length.
He timed the start well again, doing a 3.74 sectional and paced up to go round in front, trap 6 turned on his shoulder and when 1 turned 3 lengths back in 3rd I thought that would be the danger straight away. That turned out to be the case when Shrewdie pulled clear of the 6 and increased his lead at the front, coming off the last he was probably 4 lengths clear when in typical Shrewdie fashion he started to run on the spot! It was still a fairly comfortable win in a time of 24.80 (going +10), so nailing the prediction!
Took some of the 5/2 SP and also betfair had some 5.0 floating about as well, which is always a bonus!
Maxine's done a great job in keeping him fit and ready to get straight back where he left off while he has been nursing his cut web, and I imagine he will be competing in A5 company next week, where, as long as he keeps maturing and gaining stamina, he won't be out of his depth.

Shrewdie on the hunt for a win

Shrewdie returned to action last Saturday night and was back to his usual ways. Breaking fast and going round infront, to fall down a hole off the last bend!! Unfortunately he couldn't hold on as Maxines other runner came through to steal it on the line, but after 5 weeks off a 3.75 sectional and 25.05 time was not disappointing at all.
He returns to action today at 12.47pm Romford. Still in A6 he is up against the racing post 'NAP' in trap 4, who is another pup coming along nicely. However, if Shrewdie does manage to lead round I would not be surprised to see him go one better than last week. He has galloped well this week and should hopefully come on for the run back last week. "3.75, 24.90 Qaw, Aled" would do us nicely please!

Shrewdie back in the game

Just a quick update, and surprisingly a good news update!

Shrewdie trialled today at Romford following his time off the track for a cut web and ran very well. He managed to win his trial, showing his usual early pace and winning his trial by just over 2 lengths.

He will be back on the card within the next week hopefully and start winning some races for the syndicate! And a thankyou to Maxine for keeping him in shape while he has been off and getting him back well for his trial.

Shrewdie returns to action, Bobby takes a break...

Good news is that 'Winking Shrewdie' will be returning to action, hopefully as soon as next week so long as he grades in OK on his comeback trial tomorrow.

Shrewdie cut his web in his paw when on a little upward curve, and has since had to have 6 weeks off. Maxine has said she has got a couple of gallops into the boy and hopefully he can grade back in and win some more races round Romford very soon.

It has been about 3 weeks since Bobby injured himself in a trial, and for the time being he has been taken out of the kennels to rest his leg. He is walking fine and is no longer tender to touch, however he kept getting too excited bounding about in his kennel everytime the other dogs went out for a walk.

He is currently at my house (Ben), living in a makeshift kennel in the back garden, and loving it. He is such a well behaved dog, who I have never once heard bark - and hope not to! He sleeps like a baby at night, which i'm sure the neighbours will be thankful for!

Bobby will return to John Petersons kennels on the first week of July, for a checkup, where we will be able to get a better idea of how well his leg has healed.

I will leave you with a picture of Bobby, taken on the travel back from Bicester when I stopped in a Tesco carpark, the white mark on his back right leg is where his hairline fracture is.

Cursed syndicate!

More bad news to report. Sadly Bobby suffered an injury in his trial at Swindon on Tuesday, it turns out it is not as bad as first feared however it will still cause him to have 8 weeks off the track minimum.

He got off to his best break yet and was going to lead round the first bend before checking off badly and ended up running the rest of the trial anyway! When John got him to the vet on track she thought it was a fracture at the joint level of his leg however a scan yesterday showed that this was not the case and that it is a minor hairline fracture below the joint.

Bobby is happy and wrapped up, and will be given plenty of fuss and attention while he is recovering.

Hopefully Shrewdie will be back on track soon to try and pay some bills after he cut his web last month.

Bobby at Henlow

So Thursday night saw Bobby making his debut for us at Henlow, in a tough open race round Henlow.

It was more a run out for him, we just wanted him to come off sound, and thankfully he did. He ran OK for the first 4 bends but then faded coming home and finished 6th, was clearly in need of the run. The dog stuck like glue to the rail though and ended up even hitting it off the 3rd bend - which is no surprise as it was his first look at the track too.

He will continue to be galloped and is booked in for a 480m trial at Swindon on Tuesday, he will then be aimed at a stiff 4 bends rather than a short 6 bend race I think, as we are just trying to get him to full fitness at the moment. Decisions will be made thereafter but as long as the dog keeps coming off sound we will be happy.

I also went to visit him on Sunday morning and he was looking great, such a happy laid back dog. I will update again when he has had his trial, and when we know where he will be next.

Do you want the good news, or the bad news?

It's been a mixed week for the He Winked At Me kennel.

Shrewdie has just began to find his feet round Romford and i'm really hopeful he can progress through the middle grades as he gets more experience. However, the silly boy managed to cut his web on his foot and had to have it burnt back by the vets, which will mean he will now have to have about a months rest and then trial back on. 

Hopefully he can come back hungrier than ever to get after the bunny and pick up where he left off.

On a brighter note, our new recruit, 'Bobby', will be making his debut for the kennel this week. He will be heading to Henlow on Thursday for the 550m race there. 

The dog is not fully fit at the moment, and the run will be needed, despite JP giving him plenty of gallops and attention these last couple of weeks. We are hoping that we can get him on the card for the sky night next Wednesday at Swindon, in the 509m. 

He will be running under his current name 'Hi Ace Boy' on Thursday, as the papers aren't yet through for his name change to 'Winking Ace'. As I said, he will need the run, and it is a very competitive open race, and as long as he comes off safe and sound we will be happy.

I have also updated the 'photographs' page, with a few pictures.

Two dogs on the go!

A quick update from this end on both dogs..

Went to see BOBBY again this morning and he is looking well, he had to have 10 days off for a little niggle that needed resting but he went out for his first trial last night since we purchased him just to blow the cobwebs out over 480m at Swindon.

He ended up doing 30.00 (-60), so 29.40 calc, which although isn't the best of times (about A3/A4 grade), he noticeably lost his footing at the first and third bend as well as doing a very slow sectional from the boxes. We will now be entering him into an open somewhere as soon as we can, when we see one which will suit.

As for SHREWDIE, he ran again on Thursday afternoon bags (11/04), he got a clump from the 4 dog moving into him just out of the boxes but still paced up well however he was unable to lead trap 1 or trap 6 and got a bump and turned 3rd. Down the far side he showed tremendous pace and went outside of both dogs infront of him and looked like he was going to get to the front when the 6 dog just pushed him wide and stopped him in his stride. After that he ended up finishing 5th but it was a good run considering he didn't get to the bend infront. He will be a winner in the grade again very soon.

Shrewdie lands the gamble!

Tonight Shrewdie was back out on track, in an A6 where we believed he had a great chance at winning. It would be the usual scenario, he had the early to get to the front but would be on oxygen off the last bend! After his run last week in A6, he stayed on OK considering he didn't lead which made me confident that he would stay a bit better if he did manage to turn the bend infront. And this race was a race where he should turn infront as there was a distinct lack of early.

The bookies on track had sent Shrewdie off at decent prices previous and none of the syndicate had been able to get to track to have a decent bet on him, so I made sure I would be there tonight to cheer the lad on and try and win a few quid.

He opened 4/1 and was the only dog in the market who didn't budge either way, I got my money on just before the hare was running and ran to the top of the steps to cheer the boy on with my girlfriend.

"Just trap" - was all I could think while the hare was coming round, and that he did. His early pace helped him clear the inside although the 5 dog was about 1/4 length outside him going into the first. Shrewdie held his ground and shoulder barged the 5 and kicked on down the back to stretch out to about 4-5 lengths ahead of the 3 and 6 - and we began shouting our lungs out to help him!

They were both edging closer, however, and as Shrewdie came off the 4th bend, and although I was OI OI'ing it from halfway, it was so nearly a hands on head moment as the 3 dog came within a neck to landing the spoils!

He only did a modest 25.26 (the track was slow judging by earlier times on the night, 20, maybe 30 slow), but its crossing the line infront that matters!

That's 2 wins from 4 races now with Maxine (who has managed to get him staying better already), A7 and A6 wins, I don't know if his time will merit an upgrade, but A5 will be a big step up if he does. The dog still isn't 2 until July though, and will clearly enjoy the track more when the going gets better, so there is much more to come from Shrewdie.

Would also like to add that I heard the 3 dog went lame after the line so I hope that isn't too serious and he can make a full recovery ASAP.

Welcome, Bobby!

Today the He Winked At Me syndicate purchased another dog.

The dog came available through John Peterson, a trainer attached to Swindon, who was one of the first people I knew when I got my first two greyhounds, and I also have another dog with him not involved with the syndicate at the moment too.

'Hi Ace Boy' is a 6 bend open race winner at Romford clocking 13.80 sectional and a 35.99 calc time. Not bad for his 3rd race over 6 bends and still only a Jan'11 dog. After a long journey to Manchester to pick him up from Charlie Lynch - who might I add is a really nice guy - and then dropping him off at his new kennel in Bicester, "Bobby" (kennel name) is now settling in.

We are hoping Bobby (who's racing name will be changed to 'Winking Ace') can continue to compete in opens and John will be giving him a trial round Swindon on Tuesday, leading hopefully to a Trial Stakes for the Swindon Arc.

Exciting times..

I only blog when we're winning....!

Sorry for the lack of updates! Alot has happened since the last installment of the He Winked At Me Syndicate!

Now where were we, ah yes, Shrewdie struggling to grade round Monmore! Well the good news was that he did find grading time on his third time of asking and was then put into A10. The dog has cracking early but it was pretty clear early on that he would struggle to win a race round Monmore as he falls down a hole off the last bend.

He consistenly posted 4.38 sectionals but failed to finish better than 3rd place despite leading in 3 out of his 4 races round Monmore. The final straw was when he went 7L clear down the back only to again finish 3rd falling down a hole off the last.

Decisions had to be made, so we got in contact with Maxine Locke and sent him over to her at Romford. I have to say that Maxine is very friendly and quick on the contact with details of the dog and any questions we ask her during the week, its the way owners should be treated.

The 400m trip should suit Shrewdie more, but it wasn't great viewing after in his first two trials he was just outside grading time. It got better in his third trial when he somehow picked up a dog (never thought that would ever happen) to grade into an A7 the following week.

Shrewdie had posted a sectional of 3.72 in his first trial but a little slower in his 2nd and 3rd, but we were still confident he had the early pace to lead most dogs in an A7. Sadly he didn't manage it on his first attempt, going off a 9/2 shot he got led up and had to ride bumping at the first bend, he ended up fading behind and finished 5th.

His most recent race was on Monday (25th March), his second at the track, and the day he decided to ping! He flashed out doing a 3.74 sectional and ran really well into the 3rd bend increasing his lead to about 2.5L coming off the last from the rallying 1 dog. Shrewdie managed to hold on by a head to land his first race at a price of 5/1. It was a decent run 25.19 (-20) which will probably earn him an upgrade next time out.

Happy days, the first winner for the syndicate, who are now on the lookout to make another addition to the kennel when the right dog pops up! Onwards and upwards.....

Not looking the greatest purchase..

Shrewdie trialled for the second time over 4 bends today - his third official trial. He should have trialled last week but it got cancelled because of the snow.
All hopes were set on finding a grading time with a little bit of luck, and of course Shrewdie to come off sound. He was in a three dog trial running from trap 5. His sectional suggests he has some early pace but Chris told us despite that, he doesn't seem to be quite staying out the 480m at Monmore.
We are hoping Chris can put a bit of work in him this week to give him every chance of finding time and staying fitter, but if he still looks as though hes struggling on the distance we may have to look at relocating him to not such a tough 4 bends. His trial details are below, the going was -20.

The Jury is out...

Winking Shrewdie had his second trial today, a full 4 bend trial at Monmore, his first being just a sprint before Xmas.
Sadly, it wasn't what we had all been waiting for. None of us managed to get to trials today due to work commitments so it is hard to really say what time  he may have lost etc but at least it didn't say clear run! He did a calculated 30.83 after the going allowance (-30).
Hopefully Shrewdie can get loose next week when he should be trialling again.