Sunday 30 April at The Whippet Meadow, Detling
150 yards straight; veterans ½yd/lb & yd/yr
We were blessed with a warm Spring day and, despite virtually no rain in Kent through March and April, a lush green racetrack – the going no worse than firm – it was a credit to Ray and his team.
There were quite a few people who stayed over the weekend in their campers and caravans with some newcomers experiencing their first Championships. Whippies’ Café was a welcome site; the girls (Ruth Mabb, her mum Sheila and Caz Baldock) serving breakfast and hot tea to the brave souls who camped overnight in their vans.
Even though we held the presentation of the annual awards before racing, the meeting started in good time at 12.30pm.
The new season usually brings a crop of new Veteran Crowns and no exception this time, we had four of them plus one new Racing Champion, congratulations to VC’s Winterfell Hellfire, litter-brother Winterfell Arfa Must Dash, Tinkers Cloudy Moon and Markamy’s Marley, and the Hunters’ first Racing Champion, Zola Go-Quick. Dog of the day was Lou Simmonds’ two-year-old Nac Mac Feegle who won Fastest Time (9.05) from the 22lb group and was impressive in heat, semi and final but there were plenty of other good performances.
WCRCh Sapphire’s Peridot and WCRCh Ameesha Little Ebs added to their individual weight class tallies, the latter making light of potentially a tough final, while Angela Parker’s two puppies continued her kennel’s winning tradition by gaining their half-coats at the first time of asking, both their finals were tight affairs. Morton’s Crazy Nights, working her way into form after an absence from the track battled her way through the 20lb rounds (second all day) to chase home Sapphire’s Crystal Bell, while Ryamber Something Extra was within a length of Sapphire’s Tanzanite Queen in the 24lb. A close fourth place for Rudy Roo in the same race was a great effort for a bitch just four months from her sixth birthday – her debut in the veterans could be very interesting. In the 26lb final, Trueloveways trapped brilliantly but couldn’t hold off Zola Go-Quick on her way to that WCRCh title.
In the heavier groups, WCRCh Scallywag, WCRCh Nip ‘N Tuck and WCRCh Markamy’s Red Fred showed they’d lost none of their class and all defended their titles. WCRCh Scallywag beat the half-coat Nub Shifter, WCRCh Nip ‘N Tuck overcame two half-coats in Gunna Be A Devil and Hearcat, while Fred outstayed the promising novice The Cooler King to prevail by half a length.
It’s fair to say Sarah Layfield’s dogs had a good day! Three littermates, Winterfell’s Hellfire, Hells Belle and Arfa Must Dash, finished first, second and first in their respective Veteran Crowns groups, and her senior racer Winterfell Laydee Grey was runner-up to Markamy’s Marley. Marley was a good winner and lovely to see a “schoolmaster” whippet get some glory. Winterfell ‘Arfa Must Dash posted a time of 9.65 in his heat which is a brilliant run for a heavyweight 7 year old and fully justified his Veteran Crown.
Two Veteran Crowns successfully defended their titles; VC Raffles, who’s proving to be a classy veteran, won the junior 21-25lb group and WCRCh VC Sapphires Queens Topaz took the senior middleweights. A special mention for Zula Go-Quick (Zola’s mum) who was eating into Topaz’s lead near the line and just failed by a fast-diminishing neck to finish a very close second.
All in all, it was a good day’s racing with new faces, familiar faces and a great atmosphere.
We’re all looking forward to the next one on 18th June 2017 – see you there.
Report by Mark Etheridge and Kim Saxby.
Full Results
Mains
NE 16lb
- WCRCh Sapphire’s Peridot (Chalkners Flaming Arrow x Sunlay Sapphire’s Gem) Owner: A. Parker. Time: 10.04
NE 18lb
- WCRCh Ameesha Little Ebs (Busby Babe x Stokecourcy Hazel at Ameesha) Owner: E. Villis. Time: 9.47
- WCRCh Sapphire’s Queen’s Pearl
- WCRCh Great Fun
- WCRCh Jett Black
NE 20lb
- *Sapphire’s Crystal Bell (Bethnal Green Boy x Sunlay Queen’s Topaz) Owner: A. Parker. Time: 9.47
- Morton’s Crazy Nights
- *Satin Secret
- WCRCh Cheeky Devil
NE 22lb
- *Nac Mac Feegle (Busby Babe x Chalkners Future Star) Owner: L. Simmonds. Time: 9.05
- WCRCh Polly Flinders
- WCRCh Sapphire’s Ruby Queen
- Secret Smile
NE 24lb
- *Sapphire’s Tanazanite Queen (Bethnal Green Boy x Sunlay Queens Topaz) Owner: A. Parker. Time: 9.40
- WCRCh Ryamber Something Extra
- WCRCh Satin Sunshine
- Rudy Roo
NE 26lb
- WCRCh Zola Go-Quick (Wagtail Flash in the Pan x Matchington Zula of Ryemeadows) Owners: D & L Hunter. Time: 9.25
- Trueloveways
- *Markamy’s Son and Air
- Dolly Daydream
NE 28lb
- WCRCh Scallywag (Drawn To Me x Carlstream Popstar) Owner: P. Gant. Time: 9.44
- *Nubs Shifter
NE 30lb
- WCRCh Nip ‘N’ Tuck (Chalkners Flaming Arrow x Goodad Star Addition) Owner: P. Gant. Time: 9.33
- *Gunna Be A Devil
- *Hearcat
NE 32lb
- Markamy’s Red Fred (Chalkners Flaming Arrow x Goodad Star Addition) Owners: D & S Bursey. Time: 9.27
- The Cooler King
- Laguna Lawns Le Lundi
Veteran Crowns 6 – 7 yrs
14-20lb
- VC Winterfell Hellfire (Busby Babe x Winterfell Tinkerbelle) Owner: S. Layfield. Time: 10.14
- Cairdean Yoshimi
21-25lb
- VC Raffles (Karyon Ring of Fire x Sunset Promise) Owner: I. German. Time: 9.44
- Winterfell Hells Belle
- Satin Sings
- Stripey Nancy
26-32lb
- VC Winterfell Arfa Must Dash (Busby Babe x Winterfell Tinkerbelle) Owner: S. Layfield. Time: 9.85
- Satin Star
- Ahoy Ramona (WDN)
Veteran Crowns 8 yrs & Over
14-20lb
- VC Tinkers Cloudy Moon (Karyon Ring Of Fire x Breakingbury Cupid) Owner: H. How. TIme: 10.55
- VC Tinkers Gypsy Joe (WDN)
21-25lb
- WCRCh Sapphire’s Queens Topaz (Run At Mill x Sunlay Star Of Sapphires) Owner: A. Parker. Time: 10.14
- *Zula Go-Quick
26-32lb
- VC Markamy’s Marley (Wig Wam Bamma x Karyon Chequered Flag) Owners: D & S Bursey. Time: 9.88
- Winterfell Laydee Gray
- VC Guye’s Gone Fishing