The first UK major final goes off on Tuesday night in front of the Sky cameras when the £5,000 to the winner William Hill Prestige final is run. Here's a quick look at the breeding of the 6 finalists.
This was won by True Honcho bitch Tuftys Pearletta last year - the only time an odds-on favourite was beaten in one of the Sky televised features in 2009.
SWIFT N HASTY(Top Honcho x First To Return)
It's a rarity that Ian Greaves does not have a finalist in a major 6-bend UK final, and this is no exception. Swift N Hasty is yet another big race finalist for the great Top Honcho, out of probably Ian's best brood bitch of the last few years, First To Return.
Swift N Hasty is from First To Return's 8th litter. Her best runner was undoubtedly the brilliant Greenacre Lin who won more races on Sky than Gary Wiltshire has had cold dinners. She was of course successful in the 2005 English St Leger which was a precession if my memory serves me well. She also won the Golden Jacket and set track records at several tracks. What a bitch!
Swift N Hasty was 4 months old the night Greenacre Lin won the St Leger and Ian obviously likes the cross - First To Return has had 5 litters by the 6-time champion sire! I wouldn't be surprised if she has her own bed there at Frightful Flash Kennels.
First To Return has been a prolific dam, throwing the likes of English Derby Finalist Big Freeze who was Runner-Up to Droopys Scholes, and Penn Lacey - Runner-Up in the Irish Oaks Consolation, among many, many others.
More experienced doggy folk will know this better than me, but a look down this great line will bring you to a bitch called Sand Jam. I can't be quoted on this but I was told that Mike Buckley - father of top Irish trainer Pat - acquired this bitch in exchange for a horse. The details are very hazy for me so please accept my apologies for any inaccuracies - of which i am sure there are several.
But history shows that this bitch became a foundation for the brilliant damline that has led to several top class greyhounds. Sand Jam produced Velvet Coat, who in turn produced Sadlers Return (below) who won the English Oaks and became a super brood bitch herself. Sadlers Return sadly passed away last year.
The Buckley family themselves have reaped great rewards from the line and the Velvet prefixed runners over the years have had good success with the line - Velvet Cash, Velvet Tom etc.
Although Swift N Hasty is bred to be special, he will go off as one of the outsiders in the final. However his breeding suggests he could be very interesting over even further than this 6 bends trip.
LORRYS OPTIONS(Westmead Hawk x Droopys Seville)
The Dunphy brothers were champion breeders again in 2008, and they won 19 NGRC competitions last year. Apart from having bred two of the finalists here, their stud dogs sired five of the runners to boot.
Grand-dam High Knight was a great servant of the Dunphys in Waterford, producing the Irish Derby Runner-Up Droopys Rhys, who was the UK Greyhound Of The Year, and the brilliantly precocious Droopys Shearer.
Alook at this pedigree will throw up no obvious nicks or line-breeding, but it is interesting to see how Westmead Hawk, sired by a half-Australian sire, has been used over a bitch with a simlilar make-up - Seville being by Top Honcho's son Droopys Vieri. The two most successful imports of the last 20 years are on the third line of the pedigree - Frightful Flash and Top Honcho.
Droopys Seville was a decent though not brilliant racer,winning 4 of her 22 starts, most of which were over 6 bends.
STEADY SCHOLES(Droopys Scholes x Candy Floss)
This lady has made 7 finals already - including the Kent St Leger and recent Oaks decider at Wimbledon.
This race was one of only four finals from 32 that was won by a bitch - Flying Winner's TV Trophy and Regency wins plus Meenala Amy in the Oaks (confined to bitches) being the others to add to Tuftys Pearletta's victory. So Steady Scholes has it all to do but I think she is a good bitch and is not running as a rag here - she has a very good chance if she breaks the way she can.
Bred from the all-conquering Minnies Nikita branch of the Sallys Gossip damline, this lady could have a big future in the paddocks herself.
Dam Candy Floss is by Smooth Rumble out of a Mustang Jack bitch. Her dam Queen Nikita is a litter sister of Irish Derby Winner Cool Performance who was an early paced type. It is clear that the stamina Steady Scholes has inherited his stamina from Smooth Rumble as sire Droopys Scholes has become know as a sire of early paced types. Candy Floss ran 5 times without success.
OLYGIRL (Droopys Vieri x Olybean)
Dam Olybean was a 'right bitch' winning the Videx Puppy Derby at Walthamstow for Ernie Gaskin Snr and running-up The Arc at the same track. She hails from the brilliant Blonde Returns damline that Liam Dowling has had so much success from over the years.
Blonde Returns (right), winner of the 1995 Silver Collar at Sheffield, threw the likes of TV Trophy and Regency winner Killeacle Phoebe, English Derby finalist Ballymac Kewell and Ladbrokes Puppy Derby winner Ballymac Pires. Blonde Returns' daughter Ballymac Bargain also threw the winner of the Monmore showpiece, Ballymac Charley - the Harry Redknapp and Nik Budimer owned dog also won the Pall Mall. Another Blonde Returns bitch Ballymac Floss threw last year's Cock Of The North champ Ballymac Weeshie.
But Blonde Returns is looking like she could be known, if not predominantly, but as well, as dam of one of the top stud dogs to emerge in Ireland in some time, namely Ballymac Maeve.
There is just too much of note to mention everything in the back lines of this runner.
HAWKS DILEMMA (Westmead Hawk x Droopys Seville)
A comrade of trap 2, Hawks Dilemma is second finalist for the busiest sire in Ireland, Westmead Hawk. It's nothing short of amazing how popular this boy has been and those that doubted whether the Irish breeders would take to him are eating their words now. OK his style of running is not of the 'out and gone' variety, and he did his racing on the other side of the Irish Sea. But the breeders have seen what he is producing and like it.
Hawks Dilemma and his brother Lorrys Options, are half-brother sof the English St Leger and Scottish Derby Runner-Up Bubbly Totti, being out of Droopys Seville, whose reputation is growing rapidly as a broodbitch. Droopys Arsene is another big runner from this dam.
ROMEO MALDINI (Droopys Maldini x Fast March)
This fine dog is very closely related to the pups I have in the paddock right now. I have followed his progress from the off and it was no surprise to see him blitz his rivals in his Oaks Final Night spin at Wimbledon. He started this stake as a 6/4 favourite and is trading at 5/4 now due to his defeat in the semi final. However I am sure this dog will put in a good display and as the sole wide seed he should have this race put to bed by the 3rd bend.
I have covered this damline extensively over the last couple of years on this blog. Dam Fast March is a litter sister of the twice Irish Dam Of The Year Airport Express who is the fastest bitch of all time in Ireland (her 28.15 clock at Harolds Cross has stood the test of time). Her top offspring include Express Ego (Juvenile), Express Wish (multiple stake winner), Express Comet, etc etc. Another sister to Fast March is Expert View - dam of my own Bantiss Jymmi and probably more notably Shelbourne Nina - the fastest bitch ever at Wimbledon. I co-own a bitch pup out of Nina also. Other offspring from Expert View include Shelbourne Rich, Fear Martina and Capetown Breeze.
This damline is the renowned Maythorn Pride line that Pat Dalton has been cultivating for years and it is so dominant in today's breeding on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean.
Droopys Maldini (above) can continue his winning streak in big competitions (he was the leading sire of Feature Winners on Sky in 2008) if Romeo Maldini can do the business.
No line-breeding to talk of here. Dam Fast March was acquired by Dave Firmager from Pat Dalton and it is interesting to note that Firmager bred, whelped, reared, schooled, owns and trains this brilliant dog. Dave was fifth in the NGRC Open Race breeders charts last year, and 2nd only to Nick Savva in the 'British Bred' lists. Fast March had good winning form at Kilkenny,going unbeaten and winning a stake in a very good 29.36 in September 2001. Her form was not as successful when she switched to the UK, winning 1 of her 14 open races before retiring to the paddocks.
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