m a n a b o u t d o g b l o g

The Breeders Series: Pat Dalton (Part 2)

Here follows the 2nd part of the Breeders Series interview with Pat Dalton.

Who would you say is the greatest brood bitch you ever owned. 

Well I bred Airport Express who is owned by my son Michael.  I would say it would be very hard to beat what she has achieved as a brood bitch. 

My best ever? Well it can only be Maythorn Pride.

I was hoping you were going to say that Pat. I am a big fan. The first greyhound I bought was from your 'Wise' damline through Bleak Weather back to Maythorn Pride.  The best bitch I ever owned is also from the Maythorn Pride damline.  Tell me about Maythorn Pride.

Well first of all she was a beautiful bitch. I had seen her win in Shelbourne Park, and I bought her after a race in Navan.  She was from a great line (Millies May).  We took her to America where she raced with much success in the top grade at Biscayne, Florida.  We bred her in the States before we brought her back to Ireland and bred her to Sand Man. 

It was from here that she became what I consider one of the best brood bitches of all time.  Check out her litter to Sand Man - there were 11 in that litter.  Some of the bitches in there became top brood bitches and dams of brood bitches - the likes of Slight Chill, Bleak Weather, Strange Legend (won the Oaks), Miss Hilary (won the Waterford Crystal Stakes and responsible for the Airport Express branch of the line), Kasco Lady (won the Thurles Champion Bitch Stake twice).

Her daughters went on to produce lines which I have had success with over the last 30 years. An incredible brood bitch. Maythorn Pride appears in many of the great lines around the world.

At one point, the greyhound publication 'Track Facts' listed Bleak Weather, Slight Chill and Kasco Lady as the top producing broodbitches at 3 different tracks in the US.

Pat, in all your years in the sport, where you have raced in Ireland, the USA, Australia and even Sweden, who do you consider to have been the greatest stud dog?

This is one of those questions that you could ask many people and get a different answer.  I think there is no correct answer and it can not be measured.  For example, some very good dogs, well performed and bred, simply do not get the same opportunities as other sires.  Some dogs get hundreds of bitches whereas as others get a mere handful.  If I had to pick 2 I would say that Top Honcho and Monalee Champion were as good as anything.

 
So that leads me on to ask who you consider to have been the best greyhound you ever bred?

Well again this is open to debate and a very very hard question to answer.  The 2 that spring to mind would be Mortar Light and Fortress. 

Fortress was by I'm Slippy  out of Exception who was a grand-daughter of Maythorn Pride.  He was a very fast greyhound winning the Juvenile at Wonderland.  He went on to become a very good stud dog, producing several big stakes winners.

Mortor Light won the Irish-American International at Biscayne in 1971.  He was also a brilliant dog, and was bred from an American damline.

A question that has been debated many times on the internet forums is just how much input does a brood bitch have in a litter - is it 50/50 with the sire?

No. I would say that it would have to be 80% down to the bitch.

What do you think of linebreeding and inbreeding and breeding theories in general?

What - like Rasmussen?  I'm sure there is something to it (Pat smiles), but if I am honest I would never knowingly follow any theory.  As I have already said, I would want the bitch to be from a line that is producing, and hopefully she could run a bit.  I would then select a sire depending on the qualities of the bitch, and I would also factor in where the pups would be running.  If you are breeding for the Irish scene, then you need a sire that is known to put early pace into their offspring. If breeding for the States, then toughness and stamina is needed.

By following Rasmussen for example, you are ignoring the more immediate issues that need addressing - like if a bitch was slow away you want to counter that by using a sire that will get them to the bend lively.  4x5 and 5x4.....look, there is no right or wrong way to breed greyhounds, and there is certainly no theory that you can follow that will guarantee you success. 

If breeding was straightforward and we simply had to follow textbooks, we would all be champion breeders!  You can breed a litter that contains a Derby winner, a fighter and the rest could be slow.  But they would have the same breeding.  Where does that leave your theories?

Don't get me wrong, I have in the past bred as close as 3x3, and this type of breeding can have great success.  But I generally do not look to breed following any pre-defined formula.  I breed for pace and hope they get the distance.

Would you copy other breeders?

Of course - if something has worked for someone else we would take note.  We stay learning until we die.

 
So would i be right in saying that you will soon be welcoming back home that great marathon bitch Flying Winner?

That's right.  I will be breeding her when she comes in season.  I am not sure who I will use on her yet but it will be a sire that puts early into his pups.

So do you breed for the future Pat? Were your lines pre-planned or have they just arrived at where they are today?  Do you breed litters to get good bitches to breed from in the future?

No. I like to keep things simple - so when I breed a litter I am looking to get good pups from that litter.  I don't bother looking too far forward - I mightn't be here next year!

 
If you bred a litter that was not up to the standard you were hoping for, would you breed the bitch again or retire her?

I would always give 2 chances to a bitch to produce.  Generally I choose very well bred bitches that you would expect to produce, so I always give them another opportunity with a different type of sire - quite often a cross will not work. Although saying that, a good brood bitch will produce decent pups to any sire, although some sires will work better.

What about repeat matings Pat - what do you think of them?

Well it is linked to the previous question I suppose.  If there is a gap of a few years between the litters it is nearly inevitable that the bitch will in many cases be past her peak, and therefore the 2nd litter is rarely as good as the initial mating.  And of course nobody ever breeds to the same sire again if the first litter was average. It is always a very good litter that is being copied, and the standard is very high.  We have repeated matings and have had success, and wouldn't hesitate to do so again.

Specifically, are there any factors that would lead you to pass on breeding from a bitch - bearing in mind she already meets the criteria you look for in her breeding and performance?  Size, conformation, temperament, age?

This is a good question.  I would certainly never pass on a bitch because she is too young.  In fact in most cases brood bitches produce their best litters when they are younger.  There is a noticeable decrease in the quality of pups produced by bitches when they are over 8 (although there are obvious exceptions) and there is little argument that litter sizes drop off rapidly after this age.

With regard to temperament, I wouldn't be too bothered if a bitch was very excitable - that can be a good thing in some ways. I wouldn't breed from a spooky bitch though, although I believe that 9 times out of 10 this is a result of poor rearing. If a greyhound is handled well from a very young age then why would it be shy?

And size?

Well I would not like to breed from a bitch that was too big (over 65lb).  Generally a bitch between 56lb and 60lb is ideal.  I have never had very small broods, but that doesn't mean that they won't breed on.  Many small bitches have thrown great dogs.

 
Tell me a bit about how you rear them Pat.

Well as you have seen, we rear them in large pens, but we don't simply leave them out there until they are racing age.  We would start work with them when they are young, say 6 months old. We keep them alert, active and interested in what's going on around the place. 

Believe it or not we actually start the pups leading not long after they have been weaned off their mother - although we do try to keep the mother in with the pups as long as she can stand them.  This method of rearing, I have found, means you rarely - if ever - have a nervous or shy pup.

Michael stressed this point further. We have someone who comes in especially just to get the pups leading.  We find it helps no end with the socialisation of pups, just walking a pup from the field to the kennel block and back at a young age will be of huge benefit. 

Also, when we sell pups, that's one less job for the new owner to worry about.  We would generally kennel up pups at about 12 months.

 
I have to mention your schooling track Pat. It's amazing and as good as most licensed tracks in Ireland.

Yes it is of great help to us. It has inside and outside hare-rails which helps us school for Ireland and America. 

I modelled it on Multnomah in Portland, Oregon, working off the plans for that track. It is a big gallop and we would school our dogs from scratch at home, and they will be well schooled before they race,  On occasion we may give a dog a look or two at Clonmel.

 
Do you think the days of the Irish greyhound are numbered?  Especially with all the Australian sires dominating the breeding scene.

Not really.  There are a few decent Irish sires around at present.  I bred Premier County, and he was a very fast, well bred dog. I donated him to the Tipperary Hurling Supporters Club as a puppy.  At stud he could have been used more I suppose. He sired a great dog in Premier Fantasy, who is doing pretty well now himself.  But What we really need is another Monalee Champion or Prairie Flash.  They were great Irish sires.

So is the chase instinct as strong today as it was in years past?

Of course it is. I don't believe that theory at all. As long as pups are started on at a young age and not left to get lazy.  Rearing dogs is not about feeding them and looking after them - it is much more than that.  From the moment a dog can run you should be 'training' them.

Casting your mind back over the years, if you had to narrow it down to just one moment, one event, what would be your proudest moment in greyhound racing.

I would have to say my proudest moment was when Gleaming There won the inaugural Irish-American International at Biscayne, Florida, in 1963. 

Pat showed me a copy of the 1964 Track Facts magazine which listed the 3 races that comprised the points based event. All three races were won by greyhounds trained by a young 27 year old called Mr. P. Dalton. And the overall winner was Gleaming There, who collected $25,000 for Pat which was big money back then.

I was very proud to win the event as I was a young man, and I had bought Gleaming There (Hi There x Glittering Gleam) from Terry Lynch after she made the Irish Derby Final at Shelbourne, and exported her to the States specifically for this event.

And your biggest disappointment?

John, I never look back and would not be too disappointed by anything in the game. When the race is over there is always the next one to look forward to.

Pat, many thanks for giving up your time to answer my questions, and for being so open. I appreciate some of my questions are a bit daft!

Not at all John, it has been a pleasure.  I hope that I have been of some help and I wish you lots of luck with your dogs.

The Breeders Series: Pat Dalton (Part 1)

Well I can only describe this as an honour, the opportunity to throw a few questions at Pat Dalton, universally recognised as a legend of our sport. His name is synonymous with many of the prepotent damlines in our sport, so much so that may people simply refer to them as 'Dalton's lines', and he has tasted huge success in Ireland and the USA. I hope you enjoy reading this.

Hello Pat. First can I say thank you ever so much for giving me some of your time. I know you are a very busy man, what with your operations on both sides of the Atlantic.  

That's no bother at all John, only too glad to help.

OK. So an easy and blunt question straight up! What age are you Pat, and how long have you been in this great game?

Well I am 73 years old and I have been in this sport all my life.  I owned my first greyhound when I was a boy of 13.  I have been working full time at the dogs for over 55 years,  since I was 18. My father was in the sport - track and field - and it was a natural route for myself and my brothers to follow.  And my sons have also followed me into the sport.

How do you see the sport today Pat?

Well it's a lot different today than in the past.  In Ireland, it is becoming more and more the case that tracks need to have good facilities - and by that I mean they need to be able to cater to the non-doggy people.  Greyhound racing is, rightly or wrongly, becoming a weekend activity as opposed to a midweek evening sport.  If we continue down this road I am not sure where it will lead us.

In America, where I have operated kennels for a long time now, tracks are closing every year.  Some of it is down to finances but some of it is political.  Since I first visited the States nearly 50 years ago, there have been several changes to the sport.  One of the most significant changes to the track environment was the gradual transformation from a greyhound stadium to a casino/slot machine parlour...with a track attached.

Yes Pat. I actually copied an interview you gave to Floyd Amphlett in 1991 onto my blog.  I remember you were very sceptical about the way things were changing(here's the link to the article by the way).

That's right. Well I may have been sceptical but I have been proved right.  You only have to look to Rhode Island and the Lincoln track where I have been licensed for many years, recently closed with debts of $546millon.

Wow!

It is no surprise the track closed down when you consider the State of Rhode Island was taking 61.5c out of every dollar. 

I suppose it comes down to the fact that greyhound racing, for whatever reason, is not and will never again be as popular as it used to be.  We need to realise that and work accordingly. Greyhound racing needs to be safeguarded. 

So would you say the recession, or depression as some are calling it, is affecting the greyhound world.

Undoubtedly it must be having an effect. Personally I wouldn't have said it has affected me in a big way, although saying that, I have been cutting down my operation for quite a while.

In the past I could have anything between 450 and 600 greyhounds between my facilities in Ireland and the States.  That figure is vastly reduced now.  In fact here at home, although you can see many greyhounds, I actually only own a handful of them.  I only bred a couple of litters this year.

My son Michael owns the majority of them and is basically running the place- breeding and racing.

Michael was on hand to give me a good tour of the place.  Michael is actually worthy of his own 'Breeders Series' interview.  You will no doubt be very familiar with the Express prefixed dogs with which Michael has achieved huge success in the last few years.  His bitch Airport Express won the IGB Brood Bitch Of The Year award on an unprecedented two occasions - 2006 and 2007.

Michael was bang in the middle of feeding time when I arrived but was more than happy to talk to me about some of the current racers and schoolers, litters in the field, and of course, Airport Express (affectionately known as Ber).

Before I go on, I must mention the style of kennels in operation in Golden.  The US crate system is not everyone's cup of tea.  4 banks of double decker crates flank the main kennel area and although it takes the dogs a few days to get used to being kenneled this way, they soon adapt.  And it's not as though the dogs are kept locked in all day long.  They are let out 6 times a day, via a covered concrete yard, out into grass pens.  I would venture to say they have more freedom (per day) than the majority of greyhounds kenneled in more conventional 'European' style kennels.  The dogs were very relaxed and  it was obvious they were very content and happy with their lot.

So first up I asked Michael what it was he was feeding.

Nuts and meat with veg and soup.  They all get the same diet - broods, pups, racers, retirees.  We find Kasco is the best nut on the market.

Michael was moving along the kennel block with a trolley of grub, with scales on top.  I noticed that each kennel has the greyhound's weight written on the front next to the dog's name, age and breeding.  It was a job for me to keep asking questions as I took in the information on the front of the kennels. Hondo Black x Express Wish; Hades Rocket x Express Vintage; Kiowa Sweet Trey x Express Mist; Westmead Hawk x Express Wish; Tyrur Ted x Airport Express. Does it get any better?

I asked about the Tyrur Ted litter out of the kennel queen.  Michael was understandably excited about the next crop from the dual Brood Of The Year, but it was too early to say.

I then went outside to the runs.  The word 'runs' does not do justice to the paddocks at Daltons.  A long row of concrete kennels with individual concrete yards, leads onto huge paddocks.  These dogs do not want for exercise. In fact I would say they want for nothing.

 

There were litters by Killahan Phanter, Hades Rocket, and I was particularly interested in a litter by Droopys Maldini out of Airport Express (pictured) as I have a litter of Maldinis out of Bantiss Jymmi - who would be a cousin of Express Mist (being out of Airport Express' sister Expert View). 

Anyway, back to the Daltons.  Michael got some of his kennel stars and future champs (perhaps) out on leads for me - Express Officer and Express Rock both recovering from serious injuries - and they were as laid back as any greyhound could be.

And I also got to meet the great Express Ego - Racing Post Juvenile 2007 winner, Irish Derby 3rd in the same year and Irish Derby Consolation winner last year.  Ego is standing at stud, based at home, and whilst he will not be one of the busiest sires available, he is ticking over nicely and there can be few greyhounds bred better.  Half brother Express Comet (by Honcho Classic as opposed to Top Honcho) is also here 'at home'.  Comet is also available at stud and has served a few bitches recently.  Michael admits it's a very hard business to succeed in

All we can do is give him the opportunity. We are putting nice bitches to Comet and Ego - we have actually acquired some broods from other lines as we have several bitches all from the same line. Who knows? Hopefully he will throw some good ones.

What would you say has been been Airport Express' best litter to date Michael? 

Well her first litter which was by Spiral Nikita was good.  But it is her next litter by Honcho Classic that I think is the best -  Express Comet (Bar One Irish Sprint Cup (Classic) at Dundalk; Tinys Bud Open 550 at Cork; Waterford Guinneas), Express Wish (IGB Open Unraced; Youghal Champion Stakes; Newbridge Champion Stakes; Thurles Champion Bitch Stake; Tyrur Champion Bitch Finalist), Express Route (Lee Strand at Tralee) etc.  The Top Honcho litters have also been excellent - Express Ego, Express Tune (Newbridge Oaks; Cork Oaks; Southern Oaks at Youghal; Vodafone Open Bitch 525 at Harolds Cross; R-Up Munster Oaks; Tyrur Champion Bitch Finalist),  Express Smasher (Diarmuid Coffey Open Unraced at Youghal; Shelbourne Open Puppy 525; R-up Southern Oaks at Youghal; R-Up Cork Oaks).

She missed to Brett Lee but we went back for a return and got a small litter.  She had another Top Honcho litter, and then the Tyrur Ted's are the next crop.  There is also a litter by Droopys Maldini in the runs.

It's funny as I recall when we sent Ber up to Michael Dunne, we wanted Top Honcho, but as he was so busy we were offered Honcho Classic which we were happy enough to take.  In the end the Honcho Classic litter won more than the Top Honcho litters.

You would have to be very hopeful that one of these champion bitches - and that is what they are - would be able to throw more stars for you Michael.

Yes we would, although it doesn't always work that way unfortunately. We would have to have an above average chance though - great lines, well performed, and they will be reared well.

Tell me about Airport Express Michael. You must be delighted how she has turned out as a brood bitch. She was some racer but has matched and possibly surpassed that with how she has performed in the breeding paddocks.

For sure. To be honest we turned down what I considered to be huge money when she won at Harolds Cross in 28.15.  That was a track record and a national record, and still stands as the track record at Harolds Cross. She is the fastest bitch of all time and the time looks safe for a while yet.  I was stunned that night at the Cross when they called the time out.  That was the semi final, and she was bumped in the final where she started as favourite.  It was a disappointment but nothing compared to what was about to happen.

I can't remember what stake I was preparing her for, but it was a big one.  Ber was in great form and we decided to give her a spin around our track here in Golden.

I remember it vividly. Just before the trial there was a very heavy shower - I'm not sure that had any bearing on what followed - and the track was in brilliant condition. Perfect almost.

We set the hare in motion and she trapped well and went about her business in good style, but as she went around the bend she broke down.  My heart stopped and as we caught her it was clear she was seriously injured.  I was very upset.  It transpired that Airport Express had suffered a career ending injury, breaking the calcaneus (in the hock) in five places.  In hindsight it probably has helped her in the breeding paddocks as she was retired early which meant we could breed her sooner than planned, and it also meant she was lightly raced which, I am told, is 'a good thing'.

I could see that it still upset Michael to talk about 'the old girl's injury. Michael took me outside again, this time though we visited the brood kennels.  And the first door we opened was that of Airport Express.  I can't believe this greyhound is ten years old - she is as fresh as a 6 year old.  But then again it is something I have noticed when visiting the kennels of those who are successful - their broodbitches are always in tip-top condition.  I suggest if we are looking for a 'holy grail' when it comes to breeding, perhaps we could start by looking close to home - and how well we look after our broodbitches.

Next up I got to meet Express Wish, followed by Express Tune and Express Smasher.  Imagine having just one of these bitches in your kennel - let alone all three of them!  And there were more of them.  I was very envious meeting these bitches.  A special mention must go to Express Smasher who looked as though she could race that evening. She had fabulous definition and was straining at the leash. Full of beans she was.

 
Pat returned fresh from galloping a few dogs so I continued with what I had intended to do in the first place - unearth the 'holy grail'...yeah right.

Part 2 of my Breeders Series Interview with Pat Dalton will appear here later this week.

Legend

The next interview in The Breeders Series will be on the blog this week. It's a cracker.

Returning soon...

No I haven't forgotten.  I have some very big names lined up and completed, and the full interviews of at least 2 of the most famous men in Irish racing will appear on this blog in September.

Watch this space!

The Breeders Series: Sean Dunphy Interview (Part 3)

HERE IS THE FINAL PART OF THE INTERVIEW WITH SEAN DUNPHY

So what do you personally look for in a bitch before earmarking her as a potential brood bitch?  Are there any qualities that you look for to help in your decision making?

Mainly pace John - she has to be very fast. All of our bitches would be 'well bred' anyway.  I wouldn't really breed from a very excitable bitch as this trait can definitely be passed down to her offpring.  Size would also be a consideration.  However there are exceptions to both of these two rules - perhaps they are the exceptions that prove the rules - I don't know.

For example Droopys Aisling and Droopys Juliet were both good brood bitches but both were excitable types.

As for size well I seem to remember the Irish Oaks winner Tracey Budd was considered to be a very small bitch (was she 54lbs?) but that certainly didn't stop her on the track or in the paddocks - she became a very nice brood bitch and producer of brood bitches.

One thing I have noticed here over the years and that is that all the top class bitches we have had visit us for  stud services, all of them, whatever size they were, had fabulous conformation and structure.

Would you breed from a fighter Sean? Or a bitch that was 'a bit dodgy'?

That's a tough one.  No I wouldn't breed from a confirmed fighter but I might consider breeding from a bitch that you might consider a 'bit iffy'.  It's hard to explain, and I would need convincing, but there are bitches running that might have a bit left in the tank, for want of a better turn of phrase. I wouldn't rule them out completely - I suppose every case needs to be judged on its own merits.

So you have your bitch ready to breed from - how do you choose which sire for her?

There are no hard and fast rules - but I would look at how she has bred before, or her lines, and see what works and what maybe does not work.

Do you pay much attention to whether a damline is perceived to throw good bitches or dogs, or is noted for throwing brood bitches or even stud dogs?

Like I said we don't really look at breeding too far in advance so when we are choosing a sire for a broodbitch we are not really looking at specifically producing a broodbitch from that mating.  I am sure there is merit to doing it that way - Staplers Jo for example was a brilliant sire of racebitches and broods for example - it's just we don't particularly follow that train of thought through into our breedings.

If you have a bitch that has some negative attributes - like she doesn't stay or she is from a line known for smaller dogs - would you try to change this with you choice of sire?  How far would you you go and would you be wary of trying to make sure you do not negate the good points of your dam?

We are very open minded here and we have and would try most things.  In fact a perfect example of playing to a bitch's strengths can be seen in the Westmead Hawk x Droopys Seville litter.  This was the very first time we consciously bred for staying power. 

 

Droopys Seville was a strong stayer, and being from a top producing damline, the decision to put her to Westmead Hawk was an easy one.  The litter has so far produced Hawks Dilemma who won the Regency at Hall Green (6 bends), Lorrys Options who won the 6 bend Golden Jacket at Crayford and looks to have a huge future over even further, and Bubbly Eagle who I am told is being aimed at the TV Trophy.

Saying all that, Droopys Seville has thrown top class dogs in all her litters - the likes of St Leger winner and Scottish Derby Runner Up Bubby Totti was in her World Class litter, and her latest crop by Droopys Maldini have started off promisingly with the likes of the early paced Centurion Enry doing well.  The Hawk's litter definitely seem a stronger running litter though - and that proved us right in choosing him specifically for that purpose. He seems to be throwing good class greyhounds over all trips to all types of bitches.

We have recently bred Droopys Seville again to Killahan Phanter. Another dog with a huge race record but expected to throw a totally different type of pup.  Will be very interested to see what she produces in this litter - will they have early pace?

What are you feeding your charges on Sean? Are the broods on any specific diets? The pups?

Every dog in this place is on the exact same diet.  They get loads of raw meat, and a selection of branded feeds from Gain, Red Mills and Kasco.  They would also get chicken and tripe.

So your your brood bitches are on the same diet as the rest?  Would you change the diest when she is in pup?

Not really - she would get the same as when she is resting and the same portions.

How do you worm your broods Sean?

I would give them a dose of Drontal halfway through her pregnancy.  We worm the pups with Drontal Puppy.

Have you any secrets on weaning pups from broods?  Personally I find this to be the most crucial time and if a pup is to go backward I find this is the time they can go off the food etc.

We don't really wean the pups off the brood.  If she starts to get cross with them, pick on them etc we would take her away but generally we leave the pups in with the brood until she comes into season again. 

We usually find the pups get solid foods easy enough.  We have used human baby food (Minuka Sunshine Orange brand) which is made up into a paste. We get the pups onto that, and it's no time before they are eating a bit of boiled meat and then onto the regular diet.

How about innoculations? When do you inject your pups?

At 7 and 12 weeks.

Sean then took me down to the whelping block. I have never seen anything like this before.  It was as clean an environment as is possible with dogs running around.  Several enclosed whelping kennels and yards, all laid out in concrete and steel, with buckets of disinfectant at the gates for people coming in and out.

I don't normally come down here - I generally leave that side of things to Michael so I don't like coming down here too often from the stud and rearing sides of things.  We try to keep this place as sterile as possible.

At that I decided to take my leave.

Thanks very much Sean for being so helpful. There are one or two nuggets of information there and I'm sure some of us will learn a few things from the interview.

I hope it's a great year for the Droopys Kennels.

No problem John. Good Luck.

The Breeders Series: Sean Dunphy Interview (Part 2)

Here is the 2nd part of The Breeders Series interview with current Champion Breeder Sean Dunphy.

Now i'd like to ask you some questions on breeding in general Sean.

How much of a part does the broodbitch play in any given mating?  Being in the stud business as well as the breeding game you might have a different perspective on this than many.

I would say that the selection of brood bitch is of the utmost importance.  The brood is responsible for so much in a breeding - but it is also true to say that many broods will click better with some sires than others. 

So do the Droopys breedings follow any of the theories that are out there? You know like Rasmussen's theory, linebreeding, inbreeding, outcrossing, etc?

Not really. That is not to say that we haven't in the past.  We would have tried most things over the years but to be honest there are no hard and fast rules or theories that we follow when breeding our greyhounds. 

And on a similar theme, where do you stand on 3x3 matings (and closer even)?  How closely would you breed?

One of our earliest successes was Droopys Sandy (won the Scottish Derby).  He was a 5x4 'Rasmussen' linebreeding to Sheila At Last.  His dam Droopys First was a 2x4 Monalee Champion bitch, and herself had a double up of Sheila At Last.

In general we have had some very good results from linebreeding but we have also had some shockers.  In all honesty I couldn't put my hand on my heart and say 'this is the way to do it' or 'that isn't the way to do it'.  The same would apply to repeat matings. In fact we have no problems going back to the same sire with a brood again, and I wouldn't say that there are any negatives.

So when you are planning a litter are you looking into the future - perhaps a couple of generations - or do you solely breed a litter to produce champions?

We normally breed 'in the present' so to speak.  We haven't had too much success in trying to breed possible brood bitches for the future.

A dilemma facing many breeders is how many litters would you allow a bitch to have before saying she won't produce.  If her first litter were mediocre, would you breed her a second time?

Usually we make a decision to breed a bitch based on a few factors, and we always allow the bitch to be mated twice, whatever.  By the time a bitch's first litter are hitting the tracks we would already have mated her again and most probably that second litter would be on the ground as well. 

Basically if she is worth breeding in the first place then she is certainly worth two chances.  The up-side to this is of course, if the first litter is brilliant we have not allowed a gap to develop between the two litters.

I think it is important to point out that the 2nd litter will nearly always be to a different cross.

A good example of this is found if you look at that great brood-bitch Derry Linda.  Her first litter to City Major (whelped Jun 1983) did not set the world alight. 

But she was shrewdly bred by her breeder twice again anyway in 1984 (to The Stranger and Hurry On Bran) before that first litter were of racing age. 

The best pup to emerge from those following litters was Tico (pictured) who won the English Derby and made the Irish Derby Final.  A later litter by Game Ball produced Droopys Jaguar who won the Irish Produce Stakes. 

Being as successful as you have been, plenty of breeders look to you, and what you are doing, and take ideas from you.  If something works many are quick to copy - a look at the adverts for pups shows you this - "similar breeding to Droopys xxx....etc".  Do you yourselves follow what other breeders have done and are doing?

Of course we do.

Do you think the days of the 'Irish' greyhound are numbered?  There are so many imports in the stud game now that the strong Irish 'top lines' have all but disappeared. 

The Irish lines are definitely under pressure now I would agree.  But the Irish dam lines are still alive and well.

And do you think the 'chase instinct' is still as strong as ever? Go back 20 years - are dogs still chasing as hard?

This is a hard one to call, but I do believe that some sires and damlines throw harder chasers than others.

I can't say I've noticed any, but have you ever tried to cross your track bitches with a coursing sire (or vice versa) to get a bit more chase into a line?

Other breeders have tried this approach and some have had excellent results.  For us though we'd rather lease a coursing bitch or buy a few coursing pups and have fun that way.  We wouldn't be looking too far ahead in our breeding plans.

Who is the greatest stud dog since you have been in this sport?

I simply loved Lindas Champion. What a superb stud dog.

And the best brood bitch?

Can I have two picks?  If so I'd like to call a dead heat between Ballinderry Moth (pictured)and Mega Delight. Moth was a great brood bitch throwing great dogs and bitches, many of whom became great stud dogs and brood bitches themselves.  Mega Delight was a top class racer but has thrown incredible stock including 3 Derby winners and a superb stud dog- and she hasn't finished yet.

And on that note we'll leave it at that.

THE FINAL PART OF THE BREEDERS SERIES INTERVIEW WITH SEAN DUNPHY WILL BE PUBLISHED OVER THE BANK HOLIDAY WEEKEND

The Breeders Series : Sean Dunphy Interview (Part 1)

The next breeder to be interviewed in The Breeders Series is current Champion Breeder Sean Dunphy.  Sean and his brothers Michael and Patsy - with massive help from their families and a dedicated team of workers - run the Droopys Stud near Portlaw in County Waterford.

The Droopys operation is dual purpose combining their stud business with their own breeding kennels.  This interview deals with the breeding side of things, but it is worth mentioning that the Droopys Stud is home to many of the top greyhounds at stud today including Westmead Hawk, Droopys Maldini, Droopys Scolari, Droopys Kewell, Droopys Vieri, World Class, Ace Hi Rumble, Boherduff Light, Westmead Joe, Killahan Phanter, Droopys Scholes, Droopys Caesar, etc etc.  The boys have a fantastic website www.droopys-stud.com with some brilliant photos of the stud dogs and facilities.

The whole operation is a team effort, but I took the opportunity to question Sean on some of the issues affecting breeders in this sport today and breeding greyhounds in general.

Well Sean, thanks for agreeing to do this interview with me. Forgive me if some of the questions come across as very basic.  Have you been in the game long? 

No problem John, glad to help.  I would say we have been breeding greyhounds - in some form - for about 30 years now.

So getting straight to the easy questions, in that time, who has been your best broodbitch?

We have been blessed in that we have had many brilliant brood bitches here, but I think that due to the fact that we raced her ourselves (she was runner up in the Oaks at Wimbledon), and she turned into a phenomenal producer of Group 1 winning greyhounds for us, that Droopys Fergie would be my personal favourite. 

Her best dogs were Droopys Pacino who won the St Leger at Wembley, Droopys Woods who won the Gymcrack at Hall Green, and of course Droopys Vieri who won the Irish Puppy Derby and the Waterford Masters as well as making the Irish Derby Final, not to mention the fact he has been the No1 UK Sire for the last few years.

Yes - she would have to be near the top of anyone's list. What a great servant she was to you. So going forward, is there any brood bitch we could look out for, one that you think could make a bit of a bang?

Well I would be very hopeful that Droopys Bolero (Droopys Shearer x Droopys Jolie) will produce some good pups.  She ran twice winning both in 28.82 at Shelbourne Park. She has four Westmead Hawk pups not long out of the field.

And I don't suppose you could give me the name of a Droopys dog to follow in 2009?

This is probably a bit unoriginal but Droopys Noel is hopefully going to have a great year.

 

So casting your mind back over the years, you've had dozens of great moments. If you had to single it down to one specific event, what would you class as your proudest moment?

Well it would have to be Droopys Scholes winning the English Derby.  That was a great night at Wimbledon and it will never be forgotten.

I was there and I remember it well Sean, and the Irish invasion of the track afterwards.  It must have been great to see Scholes' brother Droopys Cahill win on the same card too. As we all know there are many more low points in the sport than triumphs.  What would be your biggest disappointment in the game?

We had a Droopys Kewell pup that was probably better than Droopys Maldini (and that's saying something).  He shattered a leg in a schooling trial - pure devastation!

Ouch! So do you think you will still be breeding greyhounds in a decade?

I certainly hope so!

So with the global recession etc and the general downturn in things here in Ireland and the greyhound world, have you been affected?

Of course we have been affected in some way - everybody has I am sure.  But we still have our regular customers who continue to buy young racers.  We have never really been in the puppy market (generally we sell after schooling) so I couldn't really comment on that side of things.

You are ideally placed down here in Portlaw - you have lots of land (150 acres) and are ideally located within a short drive of several tracks.  What is the best track to school dogs at in your opinion?

Well we are right between Waterford and Clonmel tracks so we use them both.  To be honest we get very few injuries at either track - the running surface at each is always very well maintained.

The first thing I noticed when I came down here for the first time a few years ago was the sign at the gate "Greyhounds At Large. Keep All Gates Closed."  I was fascinated by the way you rear greyhounds down here - they seem to have the run of the place.

Yes the greyhounds are given a lot of freedom from day one.  We are fortunate that we have a lot of land to give the greyhounds access to.  At any one time we have several litters who are roaming different areas of the facility in packs.  This ensures that the pups are never bored, they learn to run with other greyhounds including how to take a bump.  Saying that we have conventional runs here as well and all the greyhounds are used to being handled from the moment they open their eyes.

I took the liberty of taking a few photos of the fields with the pups in them Sean.  What really caught my eye was that with most of the 'packs' I noticed their dam was in with them.  Do you do this with them all?

Usually we keep the brood bitch in with her pups until she comes in season again.  Obviously some bitches are very happy to do this but some want to get away from the pups at 6 weeks or whatever and will give us a reminder. But in general we find if the bitch is not picking on the pups at 6 weeks she will be fine to leave out in the fields with the pups.  This is very good for the pups as she will teach the pups how to run and hunt, and will instill discipline into them at the same time.

So it's fair to say that the pups would have a fair amount of 'hunting' done before they come out of the fields.

Yes. They would see plenty of wildlife and would have a good bit done when they are running loose around this place.

And what age would you leave them out in the fields until?

It depends on what we have in the kennels already but generally no later than 11 or 12 months. They will have had plenty of freedom up to then that's for sure.

PART TWO OF 'THE BREEDERS SERIES' INTERVIEW WITH SEAN DUNPHY WILL BE UP ON THE BLOG ON THURSDAY WITH THE FINAL PART UP AT THE WEEKEND

Dave Wood

The next breeder interviewed in the Breeders Series is Dave Wood of Questhouse Kennels on the English-Scottish border at Berwick.  Dave is possibly best known as breeder of the likes of Gilbeyhall Josh, Foulden Special and Savana Highlands. 

Dave has been in the trade press and on TV quite a bit in recent times through his Remember Emily campaign for Macmillan Nurses Cancer care in memory of his late mother.  This has involved him sponsoring the recent Emily Wood Memorial Invitation which saw a great race between Ninja Jamie and College Causeway, and last year's Emily Wood Memorial Olympic at Hove, won by Shelbourne Rich.

Dave has not been breeding greyhounds for as long as some other interviewees in this series, but what he lacks in experience, he cetainly makes up for with effort and ideas.

 

 

Well Dave, thanks for helping me out with this interview mate.  I'm just going to run off a few stock questions and a few googlies as well to keep it interesting.

How much importance do you place on the broodbitch when you weigh up a breeding's merits?

 

 

The broodbitch, in my opinion, and this is just an estimation, s responsible for upwards of 80% of what the pups inherit from a breeding. She is so much more important than the sire.

 

Do you pay much attention to breeding fads, theories - you know like linebreeding, outcrossing, hybrid vigour etc?

 

No, I feel that we can over complicate things at times and if it is meant to be then it will be.

 

How close would you breed Dave?  Would 3x3 scare you off?

 

No, I Would go as close as 2x3– but it would have to be with the right bitch. 

 

So how do you feel on the subject of repeat matings?  There are many theories around this - a lot of them rubbish in my book - but what are your thoughts?

 

If a mating works the first time, why would it make any difference if you repeated the mating. Surely you have a great chance of hitting the jackpot again.

 

How many chances would you give a broodbitch to produce the goods?  Some would stop after the first litter - others are more patient. 

 

If you are breeding with your bitch you should have the confidence in her producing, because I believe in my broods I will always mate them on back to back seasons, basically that means when her first litter are on the ground I would have her mated again, if it then occurs that the first litter are not much cop I would wait until the 2^nd litter hit the track and see if it is worth proceeding with a third mating.

 

 

Do you ever follow what other breeders are doing? By this I mean if a breeder had success crossing sires with certain damlines, or if they had broods related to your own?

 

I would be foolish to not look into past successes and thus to some extent I have followed others, however I feel you must try and place your own stamp on things otherwise we would end up with a track full of clones.

 

Do you believe that greyhounds are chasing as hard as they were in the past?  Has the instinct to chase diminished with time? 

 

Absolutely not. 10 years ago you would see 70% of dogs on tracks that would run through the proverbial “Brick Wall”.  Now you will be lucky if that figure is 30% and for me it’s no coincidence that it coincides with the influx of foreign blood.

 

Have you ever tried crossing track lines with coursing stock?  If so what were the results?

 

The closest I have crossed was with Knockeevan Angie whose grand sire on the dam side was coursing dog Rebel Blue.

 

The mating with Larkhill Jo produced Gilbeyhall Josh but if I’m honest there was a couple of dogs, (including one who was probably the fastest dog I have ever produced) that would have died for you in the field but once on the track they did not want to know.

 

This is the main worry with using coursing blood and whilst I would certainly consider it in the future, but that doubt will always be there.

 

 

The 'Irish' greyhound: do you think Irish sire lines are alive and well or would you fall into the group that think their days are numbered, what with the number of imported stud dogs over the last 20 years?

 

They are alive, but are they well? 

 

This is subject to debate and we must, in my opinion, take serious note of how much we are pushing our own lines out.  Once they are gone, they are gone.

 

Who would you class as the greatest stud dog and brood bitch during your time in the sport?

 

Top Honcho has without doubt proved he is ‘The Daddy’ and credit were credit is due to Michael Dunne for purchasing this dog and bringing him to our shores.   He saw something that the Australians did not, and boy do they wish they had Michael’s eye for a stud dog.

 

Regarding broods, it really depends on which way you measure the success.  Are we judging on racers alone! Or are her 2nd offspring brought into the equation? Is it on both?

 

For me we have to give huge respect to the line that Farloe Oyster comes from.  She is one of the top producing broods of today, but go back as many generations as you like and this line has produced Group 1 racers, year after year.  That to me shows the strength in the line when compared to others that may have produced a few champions but very little else, and not on the same regularity.

 

 

Do you look a few generations ahead when breeding or are you concentrating solely on the next litter?  Do you breed litters with the intention of getting a future brood bitch?

 

I always have an eye on future broods but I must be honest and say that I don’t go into this as in depth as many others do.

 

 

What do you look for in a bitch when deciding whether or not to breed from her?

 

Stature, durability and her breeding lines.  Racing ability where applicable would come into the equation as well, but the first three would be most important to me.

 

Would you breed from a very excitable bitch?

 

Yes I would.

 

Would size matter to you?

 

A bitch would need to be ‘some machine’ for me to breed from a 23kg (50lbs) bitch  - but as with everything there are always exceptions.

 

Would you breed from a bitch that fought or was a ‘bit dodgy’?

No. There are too many risks in the breeding game as it is, without tipping the balance further against me.

 

How do you decide upon a sire for any given litter?

 

Firstly I check out the racers produced from the brood’s lines, although I wouldn’t be going back any further than 4 generations as I feel going back further than that and the lines are very much diluted. If I see a clickable niche, or nick as some people call it, then it will obviously influence which way I go.  However sometimes I go on gut instinct which would horrify some breeders but I strongly believe that luck plays a huge part - and if a breeding is meant to produce then it shall produce.

 

Would the fact that a dog comes from a line noted for good brood bitches and not necessarily producing stud dogs influence your choice of sire?

 

From a breeder’s point of view it has to be influential.  Most of us cannot go out and buy every brood as the ready-made article.  We need to try and strengthen and produce our own lines resulting in future broods of our own.

 

If the bitch was a stayer would you try and inject early pace by using a sire known for this (or vice versa) or do you think this would cancel out the good points of your bitch?

 

In my opinion it would be foolish to go complete opposites (a sprinter to a stayer for example).  However using a sire that was very fast early doors but just failed to stay the 480m trip is no bad thing.  Obviously seeing traits from offspring is the best guide and certain lines do tend to inject early speed and should be used to your advantage.

 

What do you feed your brood bitch when she is resting?  Brand of nuts, regularity and so on.

 

I feed Chudleys Racer and have done for the last 12 months.  Their coats have never looked as good and the consistency of their stools is first class.

 

I also feed raw beef, fish, goats milk, eggs, calcium phosphate and sunflower oil.

They get 2 feeds a day and a tit-bit of corned beef last thing at night.

 

Do you increase the feed gradually as a bitch nears whelping?

 

Yes I do.  From 4 weeks pregnancy onwards the brood’s feed is increased, culminating in as much as 4-5lb of beef per day by the time she is ready to have the pups.  Chicken and other incentives get used where needed – in the case of bitches going off their grub – and I think it is very important for a calcium supplement to be added.

 

How do you worm your brood bitches?

 

They get wormed every 2 months with Drontal Plus and during pregnancy they are wormed daily with Panacur 10%.  From day 40 right through to 3 days after birth, the dosage is a quarter of their body weight in ml.  So for example a 32kg bitch will get a daily dose of 8ml.

 

How would you wean a litter of pups from a brood? What feeds would you use?

 

Farley’s Rusks is a big favourite around here.  Also semolina.  Basically anything that’s in a liquid form but holds a bit of substance – sloppy food. At around 5 weeks of age they will get ground beef added into their feed and then I gradually include Bakers Puppy Biscuit.

 

They would then get raw beef, raw eggs, live natural yoghurt, fresh goats milk and just about anything else they will eat.  This stage is the most important and is your pups’ foundation.

 

What wormer would you use on very young pups?

 

I use Drontal Puppy and Panacur. I start at 2 weeks of age and worm every 2 weeks up to when the pups are 12 weeks old, alternating wormer each time, so that the worms do not build up a resistance to any particular product.

 

When do you inoculate your pups?

 

I do this at 8 weeks and 10 weeks.  I get the vet to do this as not only do they check the pups out - heart etc - but the people that buy the inoculations themselves and administer it themselves run the risk of the product being null and void if it’s not stored at the correct temperature. They may think their pups are covered against parvovirus etc, when in actual fact, they mightn’t be covered for anything at all.

 

How long would you leave a brood bitch in with her pups for?

 

As long as she is happy I would leave her with the pups.  The bitch will always tell you when she has had enough.

 

How do you rear your pups? 

 

I like to keep them In complete litters for as long as possible. They are in reasonable sized pens all day but get access to the field 3-4 times a day.  This I believe acts as a release and find that pups do more work as opposed being stuck in the same area 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

 

 

 

Would your pups get much ‘hunting’?

 

They would not get too much hunting.  Don’t forget too much of a good thing can be bad.

 

What do you feed your pups and saplings when you are rearing them?

 

The mainstay of their diet is raw beef, much the same as they would eat if left in the wild.  Even lthough I am not a big breeder in terms of numbers, I use just short of 2 tonnes of beef a month.   They also get fed Chudleys Racer and goats milk, as well as extras like eggs, cheese, honey etc.

 

At what age would you decide to kennel up your pups?

 

I kennel all of my saplings up at 12 months.

 

Have you noticed any changes in buyers attitudes to pups and have you been affected yourself by the current economic crisis?

 

I personally have not noticed anything and touch wood so far I have not been hit hard by the recession.  I would like to think it is because I have put my business forward to others as opposed just standing still waiting for others to come their way.  I see myself as being very proactive in my various approaches to marketing my ‘product’.

 

How long have you been breeding greyhounds Dave?

 

I have been breeding for just short of 5 years.

 

So if you had to name one, who would be the best brood you have ever had?

 

The best brood I have had would have to be Valentia Mist -but only just.  My current broods are all unproven and I think that they are all quality on paper. However paper never won anybody anything so it may be best to ask this question in 18 months time.

 

Give me the name of one novice brood that readers of my blog can look out for and follow in the future.

 

Baby Marge or Final Rose – take your pick.  Bred ‘in the purple’ both of them. 

Baby Marge was an open class bitch in her own right. I bred her myself and she was from a very good litter which included Foulden Special - who went on to win the Grand Prix at Walthamstow. 

 

 

Final Rose was a flyer but retired unraced due to injury.  She is a half-sister to the likes of Farloe Reason, Ninja Jamie and Fear Zafonic.  A breeder would have to be hopeful with a couple of broods like that – wouldn’t he?

 

Certainly Dave – you’d have to be fairly excited. OK - give me the name of a dog you have bred that we can follow in 2009.

 

Vote For Pedro.

 

What, if you could choose just one, is your best single moment or achievement in your breedings to date?

 

The proudest moment was when Savana Highlands won on English Derby Final night, beating the likes of Westmead Joe and Blonde Dino in the process.  But Foulden Special winning the Grand Prix was unreal. 

 

What made it spooky was my late mother was in hospital at that time and at the start of the Grand Prix she was in ward 6.  After taking very poorly she was moved to the high dependency unit which was ward 4.  She then moved back to ward 5 and on the day of the final she was moved to ward 6.  All the ward numbers matched the traps that Foulden Special ran out of in the Grand Prix. And of course he went on to win it!

 

And on the flipside, what is your biggest disappointment?

 

Gilbeyhall Josh in the final of the Comerford Cakes National Puppy Stake at Shelbourne Park was a major disappointment.  He was left in traps and was 4 lengths behind when he started. By the time they got to the 3rd bend, Josh was 4 lengths in front!  Unfortunately this short runner had nothing left in the tank coming home and he was beaten.  This lad’s pace deserved to win a big one.

Savana Highlands getting knocked out of English Derby after posting a 28-43 in the previous round was a tough one to swallow as well.  Everyone held high hopes for him but sadly a broken hock at Coventry was to deny us seeing him claim a major competition.

Will you still be breeding greyhounds in ten years time Dave?

 

I hope so as that is why I have invested so much in my broods and facilities.  If it does not work out then it will not be through lack of effort on my behalf.

 

 

Thanks for your time Dave. I hope 2009 is a good one for you and that we see plenty of big race runners eminating from Questhouse Kennels.

 

The Breeders Series: Brian King Interview (Part 3)

Here is the final installment of The Breeders Series Interview with Brian King.

In your opinion, is there any difference in results when breeding from bitches that are unraced and those that have had very long racing careers?

In America, bitches could race over 100 times before retiring to the breeding paddocks.  That would not be done here.  Yet the bitches I have seen in the States with these long careers always throw well - just check it out on the internet - some of the best producing bitches down the years could be described as 'well-raced' or even 'over-raced'.  The most important thing is to make sure the bitch returns to a good physical condition - in fact it's a different rather than a better condition that she needs to return to - before she is bred.  This would ideally be a minimum of 6 months after she has finished from my experience.

Some people are sceptical of breeders who say that a bitch -who was unraced - was kept for breeding especially. I don't think there is a problem.  Many people are breeding specifically to breed, pehaps making a living from it.  They are not in the game for racing - their joy comes from the breeding side of things.  Therefore it makes sense to breed an unraced bitch rather than wait a couple of extra years to do so.

One thing all the good breeders I know do is, when they decide to breed from an unraced bitch, they school her and see if she has potential to be good.  That should always be remembered.  Breeding is a big commitment and there is no point in taking unnecessary risks.

What about suppressing bitches? Have/do you suppress and what would you do differently with a bitch that was suppressed?

Well a lot of the bitches we have sold from the stud would have gone with a proviso that they come back here for breeding when they finish racing.  We don't tell the owners they can't supress the bitches - how could we?  What I do when they return is I wait until they have returned to a good condition to breed from - like I said earlier - race condition is not necessarily ideal for breeding.  You want the bitch's body to re-form for want of a better word.

The bitch could be here 6 months or a year before we breed from her. It could take her a long time to come amiss, or it could happen straight away.  To be honest I haven't noticed any differences with litters from bitches that have been suppressed and those that haven't.  I guess it's another 'old wives tale'.

We don't really suppress bitches here at The Stud.  If I have a bitch that is breaking down every 5 or 6 months I would definitely consider suppressing her.  But the method of suppressing is something that needs to be looked at. 

In the UK they have banned products such as Laurabolin.  In my opinion the alternatives that are allowed in the UK are no good.  Oestrogen based suppressants lead to problems, not least the lowering of red blood cell counts which has a dramatic impact on performance levels.  Testosterone suppressants are far better and I can't say there would be too many negatives associated with them.  If you have an aggressive bitch I suppose it is probably best steering clear of Laurabolin.

For what it's worth, the best suppressant - and safest - to use with greyhounds, is the human birth control pill.  Female Olympic athletes would take the pill as they do not want to have to take a break from training, the same as we do with our greyhounds.  When they come off the pill, it isn't long before they have their period.  The same would apply to greyhounds. The product is 100% safe. It works and there are no negatives.

Implants.  I know you have had superb success with implants - have you any opinions negative or positive about the increasing use of surgery in the breeding of greyhounds?

I spent a long time trying to convince the Irish Coursing Club to allow registration of pups concieved through surgical implants.  There was a time not so long ago when you had to register them with the UK Stud Book and not the Irish one.

In the past, we had problems with bitches not conceiving due to various reasons such as cysts on the ovaries, etc.  Implants rule out a number of problems in the breeding process.

9 out of 10 breedings here at Shelbourne Stud are surgical implants - dogs such as Shelbourne Aston for example.

Picking a pup. Is there a knack to this Brian?

Well this would be the million dollar question I suppose. If I knew I'd become a consultant and make a fortune. But to be honest, I can't see how it is remotely possible to know at 12 weeks old which one will be the best. If you can tell well then you are a better man than me.

I have known some people who have a higher than average strike rate - but that is probably down to eliminating the less likely ones from the decision rather than saying "that's the one!"

There is a chap in the States who is well able to pick the 'alpha male'.  This choosing of the dominant pup in a litter is great, but it still doesn't mean you will end up with the best racer. You are just as likely to get one that is prone to getting into fights with his comrades or one that is so brave he gets hurt too often.

One of our customers here has a reputation for picking good pups out.  He has had great success with our breeding.  He looks at the arse of the pup and if there is white around it he picks it!  You couldn't make it up.

What is the best track in Ireland for schooling greyhounds - licensed or otherwise?

A good question this one.  We generally school our dogs at Limerick and Thurles. The racing surfaces at Limerick and Clonmel in particular are excellent, and all three tracks are good gallops with no hiding place.  If I had to choose one it would be Limerick.  A superb racing circuit, three long straights in a 525 race. It takes getting.

In that case you must be delighted that the Limerick track development is on course and work is well and truly underway?

Of course.  The people down here are in dire need of a truly world class stadium - this part of the country is where the majority of greyhounds are bred.  It would be better if the actual running track could be lifted and moved to the new site.

I would implore the people who decide on these things to make sure they retain the services of the current groundsman - he is a master at what he does - the track is always immaculate.  If not, the guy at Clonmel would be a good substitue.

Have you noticed a slowdown in the market for pups now that we are officially in a recession?

No. We don't breed to sell.  Good pups will always sell.  Some breeders made trouble for themselves 'breeding to sell' and letting the commercial choice of sire influence how they bred.  If the market has slowed down, we may see breeders making better decisions.

How long have you been breeding greyhounds?

35 years. The first bitch I bred from was called Vals Candy.  She was an open class marathon bitch in her own right, but was also a litter sister of the brilliant Tell You What.  Tell You What was owned by Dick Batchelor (of Batchelors Pools fame).  She was a multiple track winning bitch.  Anyway, my bitch Vals Candy produced the Bristol Produce Stakes winner Mr Candy in her (and my) very first litter.  I was hooked.

Who is the best brood bitch you have ever had? How did you acquire her and why?

No prizes for guessing this answer. It has to be Queen Survivor.  John Marks bought her from Fonsie King after she won her 2nd race in a very good 29.10 at Newbridge in 2000.  He put her with John Wileman and she raced in opens until getting injured. She came to live with me when she had retired, but she had always been bought with breeding in mind - her full sister Borna Survivor winning the Oaks in 1999 and her mother Cool Survivor winning the Oaks in 1995.

When we started the Shelbourne Stud, we had no hesitation in deciding that Queenie would be our foundation brood.  She has repaid us ten times over and she hasn't finished yet - we have the Boherduff Light and Just The Best litters to come.

In your time in the sport, what has been the best single moment for you?

Well it certainly wasn't the moment that Shelbourne Aston won the Irish Derby.  The whole night whizzed by and it was mostly a blur.  I actually thought that Aston was beaten by half a length from where I was standing and I was greatly surprised when I heard him called the winner after a lengthy photograph decision.

The best moment was probably the following Tuesday when things had returned to relative normality, and I sat down and watched Greyhound View.  Of course I was terribly proud of what we had achieved.

Training Shelbourne Star to win the Breeders Cup Stayers up at Shelbourne Park was very memorable as she was the first pup we bred at the stud.

We have been lucky as we have loads of great memories.

What has been your biggest dissapointment?

Shelbourne Civic was the fastest dog we ever bred. He broke his hock up in Lifford in the NorthWest Derby when he was well clear of the field.  I remember the phone call like it was yesterday.  It was a massive disappointment.

What does the future hold for Brian King?  Will you still be breeding greyhounds in 10 years time?

Who knows what the future holds.  I mightn't be breeding in such a big way but I dare say I will still be in the game, breeding the odd litter.  When you are in this game you are generally hooked one way or the other.

The other day I was reading an internet forum and two Australian chaps were discussing the merits of a breeding.  On the top line and on the bottom line were two greyhounds from the past that I exported to the States. Rikasso Lassie and Just Lilly(Ballyregan Bob's sister).  It gave me a bit of a jolt as I realised how long I've been in the game and the great greyhounds I have been involved with.

Take a look at Just Lilly.  She was an A8 Hove bitch yet she is in the back breeding of so many top class American greyhounds.

The game is all about the dogs, but it is also about the people.  Ballyregan Bob and Just Lilly were bred by the father of the Assistant Racing Manager at Shelbourne Park. It's a small world.

Give us a novice brood that we should all look out for in the coming years. A bitch you feel could be a big producer.

This is a bit unoriginal but I will say that I have to be fairly hopeful that Queen Survivor's daughters will produce.  In fact they already are for others, and I am a bit behind the pack.  Shelbourne Laura, Shelbourne Capri, Shelbourne Merc. All open class themselves. Keep an eye out.

Being more specific, can you give us the name of a racer, for whom 2009 could hold big things for?

Two words. Shelbourne Bonus.

Brian, many thanks for your time and I hope you have lots of success in 2009 and for many years.

Thanks.  I was speaking to a double Derby winning breeder recently who asked me for advice.  I asked him why he needed my advice and he said that if he was still breeding and rearing the way he was 35 years ago, he would not have any success. 

All I have said to you is my opinion only, and some of it is probably wrong.  You never stop learning in this game, and that is what gives everyone a chance at making it.  I hope some of what you write on your blog helps people in some little way. If it does, then I'm delighted.  Good luck to all your readers.

The Breeders Series: Brian King Interview (Part 2)

Here is the 2nd installment of The Breeders Series interview with current Irish Derby winning breeder Brian King.

OK Brian, you've got a top class bitch that you want to breed from.  How do you go about deciding on a sire for her?

I try to only use proven stud dogs.  I have come unstuck a few times using young, unproven, 'freshman' sires, so now I am firmly of the opinion that I am not going to prove a dog for the studkeeper - after all, I am the customer, I will be doing all the hard work.

I would generally use a dog that was no more than a distance up or down from the bitch.  By this I mean if a bitch was getting 525 yards well enough, but not seeing out the extended trip, I would try and use an early paced sire noted for staying the 550 well.  I wouldn't push the boundaries too far.  Note my earlier point about breeding like for like.  If you breed from two extremes you will probably end up with slow sprinters or stayers that don't stay! 

I would also take into consideration the type of bitch I am breeding from.  If she has already had litters it will help determine my decision.  A lot will depend on the traits of the bitch and if I did breed from a bitch with any negative points, I would use my choice of sire to balance them out.

I'm not sure how much science is behind this question, so bear with me.  Would the fact that a sire was from a line noted for producing good dams, but not necessarily prolific at producing stud dogs, influence your decision when choosing a suitor for your brood bitch?

No, that's a fair question.  There definitely are damlines that produce good producing bitches yet never produce decent or successful stud dogs.  Actually, asking me is like pushing an open door as my goal when breeding a litter, as I said earlier, is to get a good bitch to breed from.  So it goes without saying that I like to use good stud dogs that come from great damlines. 

It is a natural progression that a dog coming from a brilliant damline will throw good bitches. And I have had my share of success with good bitches - Shelbourne Star, Shelbourne Kay and Shelbourne Becky were all by sires from great damlines.

So to answer your question, I actively look for sires producing good bitches and therefore brood bitches. 

Every time I am at the Stud, I am always impressed at the condition of your resting brood bitches.  Tell me a bit about what you feed them and how you look after them.

Well to be honest we don't change the diet too much between pups, broods in whelp, broods resting or saplings.  The diet only really changes significantly when a dog goes into training.

All our brood bitches are fed on Gain Puppy and Sapling as the base of the meal.  This is mixed with a very good meat and vegetable stew. We often change from beef to chicken or fish, depending on what good quality fresh products we are able to get hold of at that time.

Yes I have noticed you always have the soup boiler on in the kennels.

That's right. We always have a stew simmering in the kennel kitchen, in which we would use a mixture of vegetables and a high quality meat.  We also have a very good supply of fish.  I cannot stress how important it is to get good quality food.  If you are feeding food that is past its best, the nutritional value is negligible.

Our broods would get a higher meat content when they are in whelp and nursing pups, but apart from this, the diet is the same across the board.

Something else I feed that I haven't mentioned is tripe.  A significant part of a greyhound's diet in the wild would be offal.  It is great for them and gives their coats a great shine.  Yes it pongs a bit but I find with dogs, the smellier the food the more they like it!

How about worming - have you any secrets you can divulge?

Not really.  With our broods we would worm them every 3 months.  We would however make sure that we change the wormer product regularly.  What we actually do is we will give Drontal Plus, but then the next time we would alternate with Pebrazine.  Alternating the wormer will ensure that worms do not become immune to any single product.  Worming is one area that corners can never be cut.

With broods in whelp we do change the routine slightly.  The usual worming regime applies, but with 3 weeks to go to whelping time, I would put the brood on a course of Panacur, 10ml per day over the tongue, right up to the point where the pups are 3 weeks old.  Every two weeks I would dose the pups with Pebrazine. I would then start worming the pups with Drontal Plus from 3 months, but once again we would alternate the treatment, this time with Praziquantel Ivermectin (mixed especially for dogs).

At what age would you generally wean pups?

It really all depends on the size of the litter, and of course the dam.  She may want them moved quickly!  In general, common sense dictates that a smaller than average litter will be weaned at a later stage.  We would introduce milk to the whelping area at around 3 weeks of age, just to get the pups lapping.  I would usually take the dam away for rest periods at this stage of the puppies' development so this is a good time to introduce them to food.

After a while I start to add crushed and soaked Gain Puppy and Sapling to the milk, and then substitute the milk for a nice chicken soup with the nuts, whilst also giving milk separately.

At approximately 6 weeks of age I would hope to have the pups fully off the mother (though not always) and living independently on a sloppy version of the normal puppy diet.

I would also make sure that by the age of 3 months the puppies no longer get milk as part of their daily diet.  It is not natural for greyhounds to have milk as part of their diet.  It is a good source of calcium and encourages them to drink and eat at a young age, but I find you will have problems with scouring if you continue to feed it to them.  If nature had intended pups to continue to drink milk, the mother would have milk a lot longer than she actually does.

Once the pups are in the big paddocks they will be fed a full diet of Gain Puppy and Sapling, meat stew, vegetables and fish.

So what age would you generally leave the bitch in with the pups until?

Without sounding repetitive, once again this will depend on the dam herself.  If she has a big litter we find the mother wants out as soon as possible.  The longest I have left it in the last few years was Expert View with her Larkhill Jo pups.  There were only a few of them and she was happy up until they were about 4 and a half months old. 

I should say at this point that all of the things I am saying to you I have mostly learned from other people.  This is just my way of doing things and it is not the only way and they are not hard and fast rules.

On the subject of leaving the brood bitch in with her pups, it is at this stage - from 3 weeks to 9 weeks of age mainly - that the pups' nervous systems are developing rapidly.  Ensure that the pups are handled regularly, play with them.  If you do not do it in this timeframe, there is a big possibility that the pups will turn into shy greyhounds.  Handling is crucial at this stage or you will basically end up with wild animals.  Trying to acclimatise these kind of greyhounds into kennels and schooling and ultimately racing will be hard work.

I remember years ago visiting a breeder and going to stroke one of his dogs he stopped me and said "Don't do that, they are not pets.  You need to be tough with them".  I knew he was wrong and said nothing.  If you ever come to Shelbourne Stud, you are very likely to see all of us cuddling and playing with the pups (of all ages).  I definitely do not believe you can be too soft with greyhounds.  They are affectionate creatures by nature and really do appreciate the time we spend with them.

The first pup we bred here was Shelbourne Star.  She was a one pup litter and to be honest she found it hard settling with other litters.  We had her leading when she was just a few months old. We often had her in the house and she had a bit of a  liking for those crisps - Quavers.  Many a night after winning a race in Dublin or Limerick, we would find Shelly poking her head over my shoulder while I drove home, and Kathy would feed her Quavers.  Probably wouldn't meet with the approval of the 'old school'.

Tell me about innoculating pups. Everyone seems to do it differently and use different products.  What do you do?

Firstly I would always make sure the brood bitch is up to date with her shots - that's a given.  When the pups are 4 weeks old I always give them a dose of the live parvovirus vaccine.  If anything is going to get them at 4 weeks old it is generally parvo. 

I remember in my time in the States that parvo was a big problem. And although you won't hear too much about it here, parvo is rife in Ireland.  Vets tell me they see plenty of parvo in their daily duties.  A lot of it is in the general dog world, where breeders would not be that good at innoculating pups, but there are some greyhound breeders who cut corners as well. It's a false economy.

At 8 weeks I then give the pups the 7-way combination innoculation, and then at 12 weeks I would give it to them again.  When the greyhounds come out of the field and into the kennels, I would give them the 7-way combination jab again.

I can happily say that at Shelbourne Stud we have never lost pups to parvovirus, leptospirosis, distemper or any of the nasties that are covered by the innoculations.

Any other magic ingredients we should be using? Supplements, that kind of thing.

I am a firm believer that the food you are giving them contains all the vitamins and minerals that a greyhound requires.  Our pups are fed a balanced diet and no supplements whatsoever.  I do add some Dog Active to our racers' diets as the general wear and tear of schooling, training, travelling and racing can take a lot out of dogs, so I add a spoon of Dog Active (for amino acids) to the feed.

So for anyone who hasn't seen your great set up down here Brian, can you explain how you rear pups. 

Some people rear in pens, some rear them in the wild. Some people swear that unless you rear them on the side of a mountain throwing them a carcass every week they won't develop properly.  Look, there are hundreds of ways to rear greyhounds.  We have a nice set up here, I agree.  But I know of champions that were reared under a sheet of tin.  You need to get the basics right first.

Our 'toddlers' spend their first few weeks out of the whelping shed (that's from 6 weeks to 12 weeks) in the couple of narrow runs we have at the front of the stud, right by the house(pictured above).  They are near a busy road, with all visitors to the stud seeing them on arrival.  It helps develop the confidence of the pups.  These runs are 50 yards long by 5 yards wide.  The pups stay here until they have their final innoculations, and then they are taken off to the back of the stud to the big runs.

The way we have it arranged down here - and we are fortunate as we have 13 acres of good land - is we have 12 smaller pens which are 10yards wide by 25yards long.  Every four small pens (four pups in each) share a big turnout paddock which is 100yards long by 40 yards wide.  I have found this to be plenty big enough.  Each of the smaller pens gets half a day in the big paddock every other day. 

This alternating of the pups into the big paddocks was something I learned in the States.  Dutch Koerner, the great breeder, called this system Controlled Exercise. It works well for us.  I find we do not get as many injuries in this system as you would with pups kept in long narrow runs who spend the day racing each other in straight lines.  Pups here get ample opportunity to run and turn and the wide paddocks are brilliant for strengthening all the joints and muscles that a greyhound will need when he gets to a track.

That's great to hear.  Some of the 'old school' or 'traditionalists' will say that rearing pups in pens turns them stale.  Do your pups get much hunting?

In a word - no.  Our pups would not see too much wildlife apart from those dosy rabbits, birds, cats and foxes that come down from the hills around us for a nose around.  Something I did a few years back was to install a whirlygig.  When the pups are 6 or 7 months old I get them on the whirlygig behind a rabbitskin and encourage them to chase it. It certainly freshens them up, execising their chase instinct, with the added advantage that the whirlygig has a white running rail that mimics that which they will come up against at the track.  When the greyhounds start schooling I start them off on the whirlygig and as they have seen it before, it is not too big a deal for them.

Something that has been on my mind for a while - how come you have had such success with stayers? Even your Derby winner comes from last to first!

As I said earlier, I always preferred stayers, and the initial broods I brought into the stud were from staying lines, or American lines. 

I realise that, and you have done well with the ones you have produced. But is there something else to it? I mean, I look at some of the litters you have produced and they should not really have stayed as well as they did. Is there something you are not telling us?

Ha ha, I know what you are saying.  I'll hold my hands up and say that when I bred Queen Survivor to Shanless Park I didn't really expect there to be as much stamina in the litter as there was, and there are other litters.  Maybe it's the way we rear them.  I couldn't honestly say one way or the other though.  There is a lot we do not know about breeding. I'm sure a lot of the stayers running in Ireland were not 'designed' to be stayers - they just turned out that way.  It is worth noting that American greyhounds run on a different type of sand - the dogs go in deeper for a start - and running 600 yards would be akin to closer to 700 yards in Ireland.  The American greyhounds are stronger.

Something I would like to say, and it has been a belief I have held for years, and that is if you have a greyhound bred to stay, do not listen to the old wives' tale about waiting until they are 2 years old before stepping them up in trip.  If you are running a stayer at a trip too short, the chances are they will get knocked about on the run to the bend. They are liable to get their confidence knocked or suffer injury.

Shelbourne Holly did 28.90 in a trial when she was unraced.  In her first race she got badly hampered on her run to the bend.  In subsequent races you could see her deliberately drop herself out on the run to the bend before motoring home.

Look at the records of Shelbourne Star or Shelbourne Kay.  Shelly did 28.88 before she had raced.  I didn't think twice about stepping her up in trip when she was just 17 months old.  Kay was winning over 1015 yards at 19 months.  It didn't do them any harm did it?  Shelly finished first in the English St Leger and was Irish Marathon Bitch of the Year. Kay broke several track records.

In fact Shelbourne Star is the fastest puppy ever over 750 at Clonmel, Kay is the fastest puppy ever over 1015 at Clonmel, and Shelbourne Holly is the fastest puppy ever over 700 at Limerick, 810 at Galway and 1010 at Harolds Cross.

I think a lot of the old myths in greyhound racing are there for a reason, but a lot are there to be challenged.  What sense is there in restricting stayers to shorter than ideal trips?  Burn them out?  No way. Shelbourne Star would gallop a lot more than 1000 yards every day at home on the gallop.

While on the subject of myths, what about some of the old ones?  Like blue dogs are not genuine. Or fawn dogs with black muzzles?  What about undershot jaws?  While I've got you here I'm going to get as much out of you as I can!!

Most of it is rubbish.  Blue dogs were not popular back in the old days as they were pretty rare.  They are ten-a-penny these days but back then they were unusual.  The same with fawn dogs with black muzzles - they were never that common and they got a bit of a stigma.

The undershot jaw theory came from the coursing fraternity.  A dog with an undershot jaw might have had a problem catching hares.

I personally do not have any preference on colours, but I have had people saying that certain sires or broods throw pups of one colour that were better than another.  I brought a brood to the States that threw only blacks and brindles.  Her brindles were always better. Concidence maybe.

What age do you kennel the pups up at Brian?

The pups come out of the rearing pens at around 11 months old.  They go into our kennel block a few hundred yards away, and even though the staff are well known to them, the food is the same etc, we find that nearly all of the pups take a while to settle down. It could be as much as a month for some. 

What frustrates me is that sometimes we might sell a dog to the UK and I will see it trialling or racing within days.  Is it any wonder that some dogs do not reach their potential after moving kennels, or worse still, that some might actually run awkward or turn their head.  You try concentrate on your job when you aren't sleeping or eating properly.

 'Little Aston' here (Just The Best x Queen Survivor repeat mating) has just come in from the field.  He is so laid back, nothing phases him, just like his big brother. But he hasn't eaten for 3 days since coming in to the kennel.

TO BE CONTINUED ...... THE THIRD AND FINAL PART WILL BE UP ON THIS BLOG DURING THE MIDDLE OF NEXT WEEK

The Breeders Series: Brian King Interview (Part 1)

The first interview in this series is BRIAN KING.  Brian, in the last five years, has bred the winners of the Irish St Leger, Irish Derby, Irish Oaks, English St Leger, English Golden Jacket, the Irish Champion Stakes 3 times, and dozens of other top class stakes and track records.

Brian, in partnership with John Marks, along with Brian's wife Kathy and the team at Shelbourne Stud, is one of the leading breeders operating in the sport today.

I hope this interview, which will be published in 3 parts over the next week, gives you an insight into what it takes to make it in the 'breeding game'.  I hope you enjoy it.

Brian,thanks for agreeing to be the first interview in this series.  Hopefully you will be the first of many.

Genetically speaking, in a breeding, the sire accounts for 50% of the input and the dam the same.  Do you think that is the full picture?  Or do you think, as many do, that the bitch has a greater part to play in the produce?

The bitch is EVERYTHING! Getting the right brood is vital.  Being lucky enough to get a good bitch to breed from is half the battle.

The bitch needs to have the right temperament. She needs to be clean in her kennel  You want her to be laid back and definitely not hyper.  Make no mistake, the mother will pass these behaviour traits onto her pups.  And that means the good and the bad.

Obviously the sire has a big say, but it is nowhere near 50% of what is, in effect, a lot more than the mating.  The mother will carry those pups for 9 weeks, and then the real work begins.  If a mother is no good at her job, the chances of her pups being any good are slim - no matter what genetic matter she has passed down.  The first few months are so important in determining how a greyhound will develop, and the mother is with the pups - while the sire is but a happy memory. 

The dam will be disciplining the pups, teaching them things.  It is so, so much more than genetics.

Some of us wannabe experts, well breeding enthusiasts is the term I prefer, spend so much time going on about linebreeding and nicks etc.  Do you follow any linebreeding theories such as Rasmussen for example?

No.  I am a big believer in breeding like for like.  Sprinters to sprinters and stayers to stayers.  You will breed the good out of a line by trying to change it.  Why breed from a good class, well bred staying bitch, if you are going to put her to a sire for early pace? 

If you are happy with your bitch (which you obviously are as you have made the choice to breed with her), breed to her strengths.  If you breed a stong sire to a staying bitch, you will generally get a stayer.  There are obviously exceptions - Queen Survivor could throw a sprinter and a marathon bitch in the same litter - but on the whole that theory holds true.

How close would you breed?  Would 3x3 be too close for you?

In theory I don't see anything wrong with 3x3 breedings.  I haven't done so yet but if the opportunity arose, I would consider it.  I would not breed any closer than that, although saying that, check out the breeding of US sire Cee Jay.

He was the result of a deliberate mating of a brother and a sister.  Now it sounds crazy, but this was not an accident.  The great sire HB's Commander was mated with his litter sister HB's Creole Baby.  The idea was to produce a stud dog.  I actually have some vials of Cee Jay semen that I might use at some stage.

There is a perennial debate on the internet chatrooms and forums about repeat matings.  What are your opinions on going back to a stud dog again with the same bitch?

I have repeated matings in the past.  I have a lovely litter of Just The Best pups out of Queen Survivor which is a repeat mating of the one that produced the current Irish Derby Champion, Shelbourne Aston.

There is no logical reason why repeat matings wouldn't work.  The genes are the same.  I think the perception developed that repeat matings generally don't work for a simple reason, and that is that a breeder only ever considers a repeat mating when the original resultant litter was a resounding success.  So straight away the 2nd litter has a lot to live up to.  Don't be afraid to repeat a breeding would be my advice. Of course the brood needs to be in a good condition physically as well - that goes without saying.

I tell you something that is quite interesting.  Bitches out of litters from repeat matings often go on to become very good brood bitches themselves - even if the litter is deemed a relative failure.

If a bitch failed to produce well in her first litter, what would you do?  Would you give her another go and how would you choose the sire?

The old school will tell you that a bitch's first litter is generally her worst litter.  After all, she is learning the ropes herself, and will always do a better job of motherhood second time around.  So I think it is fair to give the bitch a second chance.

If I thought the first litter were a tad ungenuine or lacking chase, I would be looking to put the bitch to a dog known for this trait.  The same if the first litter were paceless or didn't see out the trip - I would choose a sire to compensate for these.  It's not rocket science.

Sometimes, I have decided after a litter not to breed again.  In fact, one bitch I bred threw an Irish classic winner in her very first litter, but I sold her to the States because she was such a bad mother. The buyer was more than happy to take her on.  She was dirty in her kennel, she was no good at cleaning her pups, she wouldn't burst the bag when the pups were born. She really was hard work.  Yes, her pups turned out well, but they inherited their mother's dirty habits.

Do you ever follow what other breeders are doing?  If certain lines are crossing well would you copy the cross?

Of course. Let's face it, there is a lot we do not know about greyhounds and their bloodlines. There are a lot of grey areas. So if a chap up the road has great success with a bitch, and you have the sister, you'd be foolish not to follow his lead.

In my kennel at present I have Shelbourne Laura. She was a very good class bitch and is bred in the purple. Brett Lee out of Queen Survivor - it doesn't get much better than that.  Well the Droopys boys have had good success with a litter sister of Shelbourne Laura. They put Droopys Maddy to Westmead Hawk and got a very fast dog called Droopys Lee, so as soon as Laura breaks in season, I will be taking her down to Portlaw.

I take a great interest in breeding, and often it is easier to see what doesn't work. For example, I have noticed that Queen Survivor's line hasn't really crossed that well with the Head Honcho and Top Honcho sire lines.  I won't be putting any of Queenie's daughters to sires by Head Honcho or Top Honcho.  Saying that, there are always exceptions.  But I try to stack the odds in my favour.

This might be a bit of a leading question, but what the heck.  Do you think the chase instinct in greyhounds today is as strong as it was 20 or 30 years ago?

Definitely not.  Dogs very rarely 'chase for their lives' anymore.  I remember when catching dogs at the pickup was a perilous thing to do. Dogs would run through a brick wall to catch the lure. Not anymore I am afraid.

I think the saturation of the bloodlines with Australian sires has caused this.  Why have the breeders flocked to these dogs in the numbers they have? Because many are breeding to sell instead of trying to breed chase into their lines.  I am as guilty as the next man, I have used a few Australian sires.

The problem with using Australian imports is the breeders haven't seen them running so they don't know that maybe the dog was not that hard a chaser.  In Australia dogs follow a huge inside lure which is driven right under their noses.  The breeder will not know that perhaps the sire needed regular 'teasing' and 're-schooling', and studkeepers certainly won't be including in their adverts the fact that Australian dogs were allowed to race with steroids in their system.

All this in my opinion has led to questionable bloodlines diluting our traditional strong chasing lines, and the result is we are left with more dogs than ever before that either won't chase the lure or will only half chase it.

Some suggest crossing track and coursing lines might give a breeding some extra bite.  Have you or would you consider using a coursing sire on one of your broods, or vice versa?

I have never tried it, and to be honest, although I can't say anything negative about it, and I know it has been tried with success in the past, I just couldn't justify trying it.  There is such a huge amount of time and effort involved in getting a litter to the track, throwing another question mark into the pot would drive me mad.

I would love to have owned a brilliant dual purpose dog like Newdown Heather (pictured)- he had such a big impact on the breed as well.

The Irish/UK greyhound seems to be a rare thing these days.  Do you think the Irish sire lines are alive and well or are their days numbered, considering the number of imports introduced in the last couple of decades?

Irish lines will return.  Home based sires, not necessarily strictly Irish or UK, but bred and raced here, will thrive.  Dogs such as Westmead Hawk are proof of this. 

People have bred for commercial reasons for too long.  Now with recessionary times the breeders will start breeding for themselves as there is no guarantee their Brett Lee or Just The Best pups will sell anyway. When Top Honcho took off, every breeder wanted to use Aussie sires - it became 'fashionable'.

Back in the past, the Irish always used dogs they knew - or even the nearest available sire.  Sand Man was the first big import success. He started the trend and Frightful Flash and Top Honcho were the next big things. They produced the goods.

But this near obsession with all things imported has led to us ignoring our own dogs.  One sire I have great time for is Ballymac Maeve. He is a pure early paced sire, and although I appreciate he is by the Australian sire Roanokee, he is from a great Irish damline.  Ballymac Maeve would not be used today had his owner not decided to put some of his own bitches to him. The rest is history.

Irish sire lines will survive.  If they don't we may have to revert to using the inside lure to suit all these Australian dogs.  In fact that mightn't be the worst idea in the world.  In the UK many of the tracks used to have inside lures.  It was great if you had a dog that needed a 'switch'.  In fact, some dogs would prefer the inside lure.

These days we are a bit unfair on dogs - especially in England where the hare is driven too far ahead of the dogs. Dogs can go unsighted easily and then lose interest following a silent hare that probably wasn't worth catching in the first place.

Here's a nice easy question for you. Who would you class as the best stud dog and brood bitch in your time in the sport?

The best sire, without doubt was HBs Commander(below).  He was a superb sire. He threw many great sires himself, and he threw numerous top class broodbitches.

I'm Slippy wasn't too shabby either - he was guaranteed to inject early pace and his record in Ireland is second to none.

The best brood bitch I have ever known was Nick Savva's great Westmead Move (pictured below).  She was Brood Bitch of the Year twice, and she threw litter after litter of champions.

I feel a little guilty as I took a number of Move's daughters to the States for breeding.  All of them produced well in America and they were a huge loss to breeding on this side of the world.  Strangely, her best daughter, Westmead Chick, was a failure in the breeding paddocks.

I used to import a number of bitches into America and I would buy them from Nick Savva mostly.  The best brood bitch I was ever offered I actually turned down.  Nick called me one day and asked was I interested in a bitch for the States.  After telling me about her I asked the price. Nick wanted £600.  Now I was used to buying the bitches for considerably more than £600, so I passed on his offer.

3 months later Nick rang me again and asked had I changed my mind. The bitch was in season. I said no and thanked him for his call.  Nick gave the bitch away in return for a pup to Pat Whelan.  The bitch was Westmead Flight and the pup turned out to be the great Larkhill Jo.  History shows that Westmead Flight also went on to throw Sonic Flight.

So if I hadn't turned down Westmead Flight there would be no Sonic Flight or Larkhill Jo. In fact, there would be no Droopys Kewell, Droopys Maldini, Westmead Hawk, etc etc. I always laugh when I think back.  What do I know about breeding eh?

Have a look at Westmead Kim. She was with Pat Dalton who had decided he wasn't going to breed her again.  Nick wanted to get a litter from her.  He brought her home, and even though she was 10 years old, he bred her to his own Flashy Sir and the result was Westmead Flight. So there you have another myth dispelled. Breeding from older brood bitches can pay off.

Do you think a few generations ahead when breeding a litter? Or are you breeding for racers alone?

I generally breed with the intention of getting a brood bitch from the litter.  To be honest I wouldn't be looking too far ahead.  I know some good breeders who are always looking at the bigger picture.  Vince Berland at Flying Kennels in the States always bred litters to get sires.

I always look at bloodlines.  My old friend Cliff Kevern, who owned Ballyregan Bob, spent a lot of time looking at the breeding of greyhounds.  In fact that's a bit of an understatement. Cliff would study breeding day and night.  He told me the most important thing to look at in a pedigree is the bottom line.

Once you have a bitch from a great bottom line, make sure you are happy with her temperament.  Take note of any good or bad traits, any quirks.  I'll give you an example.  Queen Survivor's offspring, almost all of them, are a little bit shy. They get this from her.  But the positive traits far outweigh negatives.

In my eyes the race record of a prospective brood is largely irrelevant.  But if I am choosing to breed from a bitch with a poor race record, I would make sure the comrades are very, very good indeed.  Take a look at Expert View.  She ran 3 times and was last in all of them.  Yet her litter sister Airport Express is the fastest bitch ever to run in Ireland, and still holds the Harolds Cross track record.  I didn't hesitate when I got the chance to take Expert View and she has turned out to be a brilliant brood bitch.

I'll tell you something now that might surprise you.  I would breed from a bitch that wouldn't chase. And I would also breed from a bitch that fought.  I have found that sires are largely responsible for passing on chase instinct.  Rarely would a bitch that fought pass on this 'affliction' to her pups.  Again she would have to come from a top class litter and again the bottom-line needs to be of the best quality.

What about a small bitch - would you breed from a brood that was less than the average weight?

Size doesn't really make much difference when it comes to breeding from a bitch.  If she was freakishly small - say less than 50lbs - I might think about it twice.  Look at the All American bitch LA Striker. She won several top class stakes and only weighed 56lbs herself. She went on to produce AA class (which is as good as it gets) in every litter.  Her mother Killouragh Grant, who was imported by me after a race career at Oxford, was smaller again. 

I sent another bitch over to America called Articled Clerk.  She was a litter sister to Mustang Jack (Skelligs Tiger x Mustang Fairy).  She was little bigger than a whippet.  When Vince Berland recieved her from the transporter he called me and said that he had mistaken Articled Clerk for the pup she had shared a crate with.  When standing, Articled Clerk was able to walk clean under the belly of the puppy - she was that small!  Well if you look at what she threw you will realise that size really has no bearing on whether a bitch will produce.  Her best offspring was Flying Oak who was a top class performer and became a highly popular stud dog.

 TO BE CONTINUED......PART 2 NEXT WEEKEND

Coming soon.......

I have been speaking to some of the biggest names in the world of greyhound breeding and over the next few months I will be publishing a series of interviews on BantissGreyhounds.Blog.

The Breeders Series, as the name suggests, will deal with issues connected to the world of breeding greyhounds, including pedigrees, whelping and rearing, as well as maybe revealing a few well kept secrets. 

Among the first few interviews will be Brian King, breeder of the 2008 Irish Derby Winner Shelbourne Aston, as well as the winners of the Irish and English St Legers, the Irish Oaks, Irish Champion Stakes (x3) and Waterford Masters - and many more. 

Sean Dunphy, of 'Droopys' fame, will also be giving his views on the breeding side of the Portlaw operation. The Dunphys have of course won practically everything there is to win in the sport.

Ian Greaves, like Sean, has won NGRC Champion Breeder's titles, and has bred the likes of Toms The Best, who won the Irish and English Derbies.  He also bred the likes of Greenacre Lin who won the English St Leger and all those fabulously fast 'Swift' dogs.

Keep your eye on this blog after the weekend for the first interview in The Breeders Series.