greyhound and horse racing fans.60's,70's and 80's

[meatboy]

apart from my wife and dog,my love for greyhound and horse racing has always been part of my life.

starting in the sixties with a dog i raced at flapping tracks in south wales,skewen and taffs well.

visiting the licenced track at the arms park cardiff,now its the millenium stadium home of welsh rugby and pies.

then i started to visit some of the london tracks,hackney,park royal,harringay,walsthamstow,white city then later yrs when they moved the derby to wimbledon.

most flapping i done[for those who dont know what flapping is its racing dogs on unlicenced tracks] in yorkshire.[1970's]

monday highgate,tues kingsley,doncaster,wed cant remember,thurs stainforth,kingsley,fri highgate,doncaster,sat.kingsley,whitworth.sunday was trials everywhere.

then it was also visits to blackpool.chesterfield,rotherham,askern,halifax and if i had to go to ireland to buy a dog i would visit tracks there aswell.the last dog i had came off walthamstow he was a great flapping dog but had a slight shoulder injury so you couldnt run him too often,but i never treated my dogs as if they were machines i loved everyone of them.

the sadest part for me was when we had to part our ways with them either to old or injury,nobody could look after my dogs the way i did so giving them away i was always against so i always had them put to sleep.i did keep 2 who had been with me since their puppy days.

i hope there is some tv.members who's love of racing can help me remember those days.

as for horse racing flat or national hunt this was also my love,traveling all over the country too many tracks to remember but i did see shergar in the flesh when he won the derby,also i saw arkle win 2 gold cups and persian war winning the champion hurdle.

[oldgit]

Yeah, I used to go all over the place as well,mate. From the age of 12 years old,I was a regular at Wandsworth (now a housing estate) then it was flapping up,down and across the country to Ystrad Manach,(the locals called it the sand track),Swansea,Skewen,north to Wishaw and Gretna,further south to Long Eaton and Kinsley (great galloping track) and even further to Aldershot and Poole. If they'd had a track on the Channel Islands,I'd have gone there as well.

My old man introduced me to the sport and,with the characters I've met in the game and made friends with over the years,I'd do it all over again. It was a constant battle,the hardened punter v the bookmaker,both trying to stitch each other up.But that was the name of the game and everybody new it.

It wasn't all flapping with me. If we saw a dog run well and it wasn't that obvious, me,my brothers and the rest of the mob would analyse the rest of the dogs in the race,head to the track (it didn't matter where,Powderhall in the freezing cold or Hove where it was slightly less freezing) and sort out who was going to bet with which bookmaker,then dive in at the same time and the RIGHT price before they knew what hit them. Sometimes we would come unstuck but sometimes we would have it off. It was priceless to see the bookmakers faces when they paid out. Blaming their 'outside men' for not letting them know,the 'bagman' for not keeping his eyes open. Everybody except themselves.

I remember a time when we'd gone to Peterborough and had it off big time. We arranged to meet up 2 miles away from the track down this dirt track to divvy up the winnings. It was pitch black so,under torch light, we sorted out the money. Next thing you know,we are surrounded by cop cars screeching to a halt. They said they had a report that there were "terrorists in the vicinity of the power station",we looked up and saw pylons everywhere and a bloody great generator. When they asked us where we'd got all that money and we told them,they just laughed in a disbelieving sort of way and made sure we were on our way. Great times with real characters who are few and far between nowadays. 'Video killed the radio star' some pop singer said,well,it also killed the gamblers in greyhound racing because what we saw in real time,the bookmakers and their men would,eventually, pick up after studying the video of each race. Then they knew what we were likely to bet and were waiting for us.

[meatboy]

sunday mornings heading off mostly to the sand track in south wales and i bet you dont know this one old boy bedwellty in bargoed south wales,or kingsley in yorks or donny,with our stop watch in our pockets enough money for a few pints and a pork pie and mushy peas.its the best 4hrs you can never beat[the trials] and of course if you have a pup the schooling hopeing that they keep their head straight after feeding and looking after them the last 12months that is something i will never forget its better than the first time i spent in patts.

the feeling u get when youve brought up a pup and it wins its first race,[penny] i will never forget that sat.night at kingsley when you one on your second ever race beating the local favourite by 4 lenghts finding 50spots which if you hadnt been a pup it would have got you a red light.i will be back later my beloved wants his walk.

[meatboy]

this is a little disapionting just one dog man,we only need another one with about a few yrs.in the game then between us we could keep this thread going on the stories,the characters,the fiddling,the bookies vs the owners,the grader,the swopping of dogs[known as putting in a ringer] we would have more stories to tell than any dozen blokes that have lived in patts.for 10yrs.

just one on ringing,finding a honest dog with almost the same colour as yours,it would have to be home bread [british] as all irish dogs had their ears tatooed so when being checked over in the paddock you would be found out,british bred dogs were not tatooed.then you would take the dog to the dog palour to be made up.on race night you would hope it didnt rain so if any colouring had been put on him would wash off.y had to have his race jacket on so the grader who normally would run his hand down his back would twig on whats happening and he would send his cronies in to pinch the price or he would alert a bookie.

we would always use a boy to take the dog into the paddock so if found out he would say he took the wrong dog out of the van.

then there was the betting if the bookies smelt a rat we couldnt get on this is what you would do.tie a elastic band round his balls or put on the choker after the trap man had checked.hopefully most times you would collect get home and lay it all out on the bed to count.but there was times when you would have 2 ringers in the same race,this would be the manager of the track who might have found out so then it was you win some or you loose some or take the dog out of the race and just hope you dont get banned.all or most of the stories are racing at flapping tracks which are unlicensed .

the wife used to go and she loved it.expecially when you won.

Edited December 12, 2013 by meatboy

[oldgit]

this is a little disapionting just one dog man,we only need another one with about a few yrs.in the game then between us we could keep this thread going on the stories,the characters,the fiddling,the bookies vs the owners,the grader,the swopping of dogs[known as putting in a ringer] we would have more stories to tell than any dozen blokes that have lived in patts.for 10yrs.

just one on ringing,finding a honest dog with almost the same colour as yours,it would have to be home bread [british] as all irish dogs had their ears tatooed so when being checked over in the paddock you would be found out,british bred dogs were not tatooed.then you would take the dog to the dog palour to be made up.on race night you would hope it didnt rain so if any colouring had been put on him would wash off.y had to have his race jacket on so the grader who normally would run his hand down his back would twig on whats happening and he would send his cronies in to pinch the price or he would alert a bookie.

we would always use a boy to take the dog into the paddock so if found out he would say he took the wrong dog out of the van.

then there was the betting if the bookies smelt a rat we couldnt get on this is what you would do.tie a elastic band round his balls or put on the choker after the trap man had checked.hopefully most times you would collect get home and lay it all out on the bed to count.but there was times when you would have 2 ringers in the same race,this would be the manager of the track who might have found out so then it was you win some or you loose some or take the dog out of the race and just hope you dont get banned.all or most of the stories are racing at flapping tracks which are unlicensed .

the wife used to go and she loved it.expecially when you won.

Talking of ringers,Taff. We wanted to find a trainer (who shall remain nameless for now) at Swansea who was harmless,did not want to go bent with his dogs and raced his dogs for the fun of it and,most of all,liked to win every race he entered his dogs. We found such a character,put a few graders his way and waited for our chance. One of the graders was an Irish bred black dog,not a bad dog but middle grade. Someone we knew (who shall remain nameless for now) was one of the biggest owners in the country who spent very big money on trying to win the English Derby. He achieved it once. We 'borrowed' one of his top open race dogs,doctored the ear markings (don't ask me how,I'm not privy to this information) then brought both dogs to the track. Our trainer,who never had an inkling what was going on,led the 'ringer' in,popped him in the traps and preceded to watch open mouthed as it pissed up by 15+

lengths.We were on at all prices down to 2-1 on,the bookmakers were running for cover. You guessed it,we not only got the 'red light' but the racing manager came racing down from her box,almost as fast as our dog,and wanted to examine the dog a bit more closely. Fortunately,we were able to grab the dog from the stunned trainer,switch them and get him to walk back in the track with the 'right' dog amidst a chorus of booing. His wife was in tears in the bar. Unscrupulous I know but we scarpered from the track to lick our wounds. We'd left it behind but still won the race!

I have relatives in South Australia so,while me and my brothers were there,we went to Sandown,The Meadows,Angle Park,Gawler and Strathalbyn greyhound tracks. There are bookmakers but they have no say in the running of greyhound racing. They are told by the track to lay sizeable bets or they are out the door. It's a tote monopoly. What a great set up. Not like in UK where greyhound racing is at the beck and call of the bookmakers. While I was at Strathalbyn,there was a little old boy sitting by himself studying up the racecard. "Do you know who that is?" said my cousin."No" was the reply. "That's the great Pat Glennon who rode Sea Bird II in most of his races." We were introduced to him and spent an hour talking about his life.Sea Bird II is reckoned by many horse judges to be the best racehorse that's ever set foot on a track.

[oldgit]

sunday mornings heading off mostly to the sand track in south wales and i bet you dont know this one old boy bedwellty in bargoed south wales,or kingsley in yorks or donny,with our stop watch in our pockets enough money for a few pints and a pork pie and mushy peas.its the best 4hrs you can never beat[the trials] and of course if you have a pup the schooling hopeing that they keep their head straight after feeding and looking after them the last 12months that is something i will never forget its better than the first time i spent in patts.

the feeling u get when youve brought up a pup and it wins its first race,[penny] i will never forget that sat.night at kingsley when you one on your second ever race beating the local favourite by 4 lenghts finding 50spots which if you hadnt been a pup it would have got you a red light.i will be back later my beloved wants his walk.

I totally agree,mate. I think the schooling of pups is the best phase of ownership. Especially ones that you have bred or bought as a pup on it's breeding. Most of the pups I had were Irish bred, so the schooling was done at Clonmel,Tralee,Limerick and Cork. I would go over as often as I could but the Irish don't like you standing in the middle of the track clocking dogs! Strictly taboo.When the time came to get them graded,I was sitting on the phone in the living room waiting for the call from the trainer. Tense times to see if he had gone 'too fast'.

[meatboy]

another story from taffs archives,"the dope" a greyhound owner[lets call him the fixer] who i knew up north got involved with a team of unscrupulous people.

they would watch for honest dogs not fast ones but low graded dogs that would win maybe once or twice a yr.and the fixer would aproach the owners with a handsome offer to give this mixture to their dog with no after affects and almost 100% chance of winning.

i only found out about it through the fixers best mate after 30 or so dogs had won with only 1 not winning.

my bitch who i had bought as a pup[penny] was coming up 5yrs.old so i only raced her maybe once a month,she was honest and always tried her best but was getting slow and hadnt won for quite awhile at kingsley.the fixer aproached me with the offer and i took it.

one small [half a egg cup] in the evening and the same in the morning on the day of the race,before i had never given my dog anything to make her go faster only cola asta granuals wich contained caffeine.nobody knew or suspected anything or maybe the manager at the track because he had heard about this team and the fixer was my mate.

my dog was therefore graded a bit too high but we knew what we had in hand.the activity at the track sent bookies to the toilets we were on big time,we were lucky she got pushed out at the first bend but was still there at the second but she had to pass 2or 3 dogs to get to the front and as it was only a sprint 20seconds a race it was going to be tough,for the oldgit that knows kingsley there is a lampost half way along the back straight before she reached the second last bend there was one big gasp from the crowd penny was in front as if a rocket was up her arse.as this was the first race on the card some of the bookies stood down cleaned out as we say and we went home with nobody guessing what we had done only leaving the bookies to lick their wounds.the last couple of yrs.i lived in yorkshire they still talked about that job it was the best ever gamble pulled off with a low grader.the winning distance was dog racing slang [ 1 lamp post] lenght.no red light,not a fast time,the grader and manager would have been lynched if they had disqualified her.

next story taking a fast dog to blackpool to race in a graded race.

Edited December 12, 2013 by meatboy

[oldgit]

another story from taffs archives,"the dope" a greyhound owner[lets call him the fixer] who i knew up north got involved with a team of unscrupulous people.

they would watch for honest dogs not fast ones but low graded dogs that would win maybe once or twice a yr.and the fixer would aproach the owners with a handsome offer to give this mixture to their dog with no after affects and almost 100% chance of winning.

i only found out about it through the fixers best mate after 30 or so dogs had won with only 1 not winning.

my bitch who i had bought as a pup[penny] was coming up 5yrs.old so i only raced her maybe once a month,she was honest and always tried her best but was getting slow and hadnt won for quite awhile at kingsley.the fixer aproached me with the offer and i took it.

one small [half a egg cup] in the evening and the same in the morning on the day of the race,before i had never given my dog anything to make her go faster only cola asta granuals wich contained caffeine.nobody knew or suspected anything or maybe the manager at the track because he had heard about this team and the fixer was my mate.

my dog was therefore graded a bit too high but we knew what we had in hand.the activity at the track sent bookies to the toilets we were on big time,we were lucky she got pushed out at the first bend but was still there at the second but she had to pass 2or 3 dogs to get to the front and as it was only a sprint 20seconds a race it was going to be tough,for the oldgit that knows kingsley there is a lampost half way along the back straight before she reached the second last bend there was one big gasp from the crowd penny was in front as if a rocket was up her arse.as this was the first race on the card some of the bookies stood down cleaned out as we say and we went home with nobody guessing what we had done only leaving the bookies to lick their wounds.the last couple of yrs.i lived in yorkshire they still talked about that job it was the best ever gamble pulled off with a low grader.the winning distance was dog racing slang [ 1 lamp post] lenght.no red light,not a fast time,the grader and manager would have been lynched if they had disqualified her.

next story taking a fast dog to blackpool to race in a graded race.

I think we'd better explain,Taffy,that greyhound racing was not all ducking and diving with dogs,ringers and stitching bookmakers up.

The most money I've ever won was on purely legitimate means. Good old fashioned hard work and judgement. While I was going graded (dogs attached to one track and running there) racing at Wimbledon,I noted a dog in an A1 (top grade) flying into the 'pick up' (the place, after the winning line. where the dogs are collected by the handlers). The race was over 460 metres and,although the dog finished third,he was a mile in front at the drop. Each time he raced,he did exactly the same,flying into the pick up. I was desperate for him to run in an 'open race' (dogs meet from all over the country) over six bends somewhere. Lo and behold,my prayers were answered,he was entered up for the Essex Vase at Romford,which was over 575 metres. Absolutely ideal! The dog's name was Poker Prince.Most of the big off course bookmakers did ante post prices on the event but Corals were the biggest at 33-1 to win the competition outright. I told my brothers and a few of my mates about it and we piled in. He won his first heat but the time wasn't great due to this being his first run at the track. His price dropped to 16-1 so we had some of that as well. He won his quarter final,finished second in his semi final and drew trap 1 in the final,an absolutely ideal draw. All the time we were betting him at ante post prices up until the final. When the Sporting Life did a run down of the final,they mentioned of "a massive gamble on Poker Prince by a team in South London". The trainer,Philip Rees,said he knew nothing about the gamble and who was involved. I felt quite proud! He was still 9-2 for the final so we bet him on course. He popped out and led all the way. We went straight down to the betting shops on the Monday morning to collect our winnings. Some of the shops didn't have enough 'readies' and offered us a cheque. No thanks! We'll be back in the afternoon. You never know,Corals might have gone skint in the meantime!

[meatboy]

sunday mornings heading off mostly to the sand track in south wales and i bet you dont know this one old boy bedwellty in bargoed south wales,or kingsley in yorks or donny,with our stop watch in our pockets enough money for a few pints and a pork pie and mushy peas.its the best 4hrs you can never beat[the trials] and of course if you have a pup the schooling hopeing that they keep their head straight after feeding and looking after them the last 12months that is something i will never forget its better than the first time i spent in patts.

the feeling u get when youve brought up a pup and it wins its first race,[penny] i will never forget that sat.night at kingsley when you one on your second ever race beating the local favourite by 4 lenghts finding 50spots which if you hadnt been a pup it would have got you a red light.i will be back later my beloved wants his walk.

there are so many enjoyable moments in dog racing,apart from your pup winning first time its a day at the sales.

i used to attend hackney sales the best in the uk.you want to but a dog so you send for a catalogue and then spend days going through all the immformation on dogs you fancy.most of the dogs on sale would be racing dogs from ireland brought over by agents and by some breeders.wether you have £1,000 [a lot of money in the 70's] or £50 to a £100 you can end up with a very very good dog as most of the dogs have never had individual attention and training so the same with any dog some loving and a new enviroment they come on leaps and bounds well most of them do plus they have nearly all raced to the outside hare yet in the uk.its mostly all inside.on the day the wf would be more excited than you hopeing she was coming home with a new kid.at the sales you would see a lot of faces you knew also the paddock watchers these are the guys that would be on the look out for certain dogs with recent form and maybe buying for some big owner so money was no object.us being individual owners knew what to look for aswell,never mind if they won their sales trial or not.so much depends on the homework you do.you can be lucky and it happens at most sales agents who bring them over from ireland dont want to take them back so you can always buy outside the stadium and end up with a bargain from the time you leave the house to when you get home its a full day of thorough enjoyment expecially if you come home with one.i bought a good dog at the shelbourne park sales for £800 who was tooooooo good for graded races on the flapping tracks but a nightmare in opens[34.08] in his sales trial but in an open he couldnt do [35]

but thats the chance you take.in my next post i will tell you about the time we had at blackpool with him then 2days later broke the track record at donny.

i must give a big thank you to the oldgit for giving me the chance to relive old memouries never to be forgotten.taffy

[oldgit]

sunday mornings heading off mostly to the sand track in south wales and i bet you dont know this one old boy bedwellty in bargoed south wales,or kingsley in yorks or donny,with our stop watch in our pockets enough money for a few pints and a pork pie and mushy peas.its the best 4hrs you can never beat[the trials] and of course if you have a pup the schooling hopeing that they keep their head straight after feeding and looking after them the last 12months that is something i will never forget its better than the first time i spent in patts.

the feeling u get when youve brought up a pup and it wins its first race,[penny] i will never forget that sat.night at kingsley when you one on your second ever race beating the local favourite by 4 lenghts finding 50spots which if you hadnt been a pup it would have got you a red light.i will be back later my beloved wants his walk.

there are so many enjoyable moments in dog racing,apart from your pup winning first time its a day at the sales.

i used to attend hackney sales the best in the uk.you want to but a dog so you send for a catalogue and then spend days going through all the immformation on dogs you fancy.most of the dogs on sale would be racing dogs from ireland brought over by agents and by some breeders.wether you have £1,000 [a lot of money in the 70's] or £50 to a £100 you can end up with a very very good dog as most of the dogs have never had individual attention and training so the same with any dog some loving and a new enviroment they come on leaps and bounds well most of them do plus they have nearly all raced to the outside hare yet in the uk.its mostly all inside.on the day the wf would be more excited than you hopeing she was coming home with a new kid.at the sales you would see a lot of faces you knew also the paddock watchers these are the guys that would be on the look out for certain dogs with recent form and maybe buying for some big owner so money was no object.us being individual owners knew what to look for aswell,never mind if they won their sales trial or not.so much depends on the homework you do.you can be lucky and it happens at most sales agents who bring them over from ireland dont want to take them back so you can always buy outside the stadium and end up with a bargain from the time you leave the house to when you get home its a full day of thorough enjoyment expecially if you come home with one.i bought a good dog at the shelbourne park sales for £800 who was tooooooo good for graded races on the flapping tracks but a nightmare in opens[34.08] in his sales trial but in an open he couldnt do [35]

but thats the chance you take.in my next post i will tell you about the time we had at blackpool with him then 2days later broke the track record at donny.

i must give a big thank you to the oldgit for giving me the chance to relive old memouries never to be forgotten.taffy

I must admit that I've never a bought a dog at Hackney Sales but I did try to sell one there once. It was by the sire Own Pride,who I liked because I had a dog by him who was open class and won a lot of races for me,but this particular fella was completely different. He could run but,according to my trainer Pat Mullins,"he had a yellow streak down his back as wide as the M1". Pat wasn't someone who would mince his words. Anyway,we decided to try and sell him at the sales and Pat would get him "ready to run for his life." He flew round and did the fastest time of the session. I was stuck away in a corner and Mullins was parked up outside by the gypsy camp. But the shrewd faces in the paddock found out somehow,don't ask me how but they must have had people on the look out outside,because the dog was led away unsold and without a bloody bid!

Do you remember a trainer called Tony Dennis,Taff ? A very good handler who won a lot of races on the open race scene and probably flapping as well.Well,I was doing an air conditioning job in a Midland Bank branch (now HSBC) when I lifted up some floorboards and found an old Sporting Life with the heading "Bookmakers stung by Dennis coup." Next time I saw him,I pulled him on it.

It turns out that some bright spark decided to devise a competition at Wembley Stadium where there would be three heats run over the sprint distance (330 yds) of which the first two of each heat would go to the final which would be run over six bends (700 yds.). Now this was a time when the high street betting shops had just opened up to the public. English form was available via The Sporting Life and The Greyhound Express but,if you brought an Irish dog over,there would only be the English trial form shown. Nothing about what it had done in Ireland. Tony acquired two top class Irish sprinters and,without showing their true potential in their English trials (they each ran a 700 yd. trial to get into the competition and,in Tony's words "they were in an iron lung by the fourth bend") ,entered them up in this competition. Both his dogs were,primarily,running against stayers so it would be no contest in a sprint. The absolute beauty of this coup was that Tony and his team went round as many shops as they could doing both his dogs in a win double. The first dog duly pissed up in it's heat...... and the second one? He withdrew it off colour. So now the 'win double' now became a 'single' on the dog that won. He did this because he thought,quite rightly,that the bookmakers would start totting up their liabilites after the first dog won and would smell a rat.

He told me that they refused to pay out for about a year but he eventually got his money. That's what I call smart!

[meatboy]

i can recollet a arnie dennis bookmaker any relation.

[meatboy]

i can recollet a arnie dennis bookmaker any relation.

i remember arnie he was a bookie at owlerton nice bloke for a bookie.

there was also a pretty large family i used to run into at kingsley,they were owners,trainers,and they also done a book.

i always used to bet with them.as my no.1 rule was never gamble other people's dogs only your own or the ones you trained then if it got beat you could only blame yourself,plus i would never try and spoil a gamble for an owner who has fed,trained and has taken great care of his dog i would only bet not much after he was on.but you did have the wise boys who wouldnt think twice about knocking you out of the way just as you were going to get on there was one at kingsley [the graders son] 1971-1976] who stuffed me up good and proper after i had waited a long time to bet a newcomer i had,he knocked me sideways as i was about to have it on,yes the dog won and i was sick but at least i knew the dog was capable and would get better.a couple of weeks later he won in a very fast time at sheffield hyde park and the graders son from kingsley was there.so i entered him at kingsley and his father put him in a handicap race where he couldnt loose.i saw the field for the race in friday nights yorkshire post there would be no price and another rule of mine never bet odds on.what am i going to do,then the phone rang it was the parkers,taff have you seen the card

its a walkover what are you going to do,all i can do is let him run,ok they said feed him half his food as not to show his belly and half a sleeping tablet.we will put up a price and you follow in with a duff bet hopefully they [punters] will all try and get on.

well that was the last time the graders son bet on my dog i got £100 out of it not much but seeing his face after gave me more satisfaction. as with all gambling you pay your money and take a chance.

[oldgit]

i can recollet a arnie dennis bookmaker any relation.

I can't imagine Tony Dennis being related to a bookmaker after what he pulled off,Taff!

[oldgit]

i can recollet a arnie dennis bookmaker any relation.

i remember arnie he was a bookie at owlerton nice bloke for a bookie.

there was also a pretty large family i used to run into at kingsley,they were owners,trainers,and they also done a book.

i always used to bet with them.as my no.1 rule was never gamble other people's dogs only your own or the ones you trained then if it got beat you could only blame yourself,plus i would never try and spoil a gamble for an owner who has fed,trained and has taken great care of his dog i would only bet not much after he was on.but you did have the wise boys who wouldnt think twice about knocking you out of the way just as you were going to get on there was one at kingsley [the graders son] 1971-1976] who stuffed me up good and proper after i had waited a long time to bet a newcomer i had,he knocked me sideways as i was about to have it on,yes the dog won and i was sick but at least i knew the dog was capable and would get better.a couple of weeks later he won in a very fast time at sheffield hyde park and the graders son from kingsley was there.so i entered him at kingsley and his father put him in a handicap race where he couldnt loose.i saw the field for the race in friday nights yorkshire post there would be no price and another rule of mine never bet odds on.what am i going to do,then the phone rang it was the parkers,taff have you seen the card

its a walkover what are you going to do,all i can do is let him run,ok they said feed him half his food as not to show his belly and half a sleeping tablet.we will put up a price and you follow in with a duff bet hopefully they [punters] will all try and get on.

well that was the last time the graders son bet on my dog i got £100 out of it not much but seeing his face after gave me more satisfaction. as with all gambling you pay your money and take a chance.

I agree,mate. When you've spent a couple of months getting a dog ready for a touch at the flaps,it's a kick in the b****cks when someone,especially from the racing office or another bookmaker,dives in and nicks your market. That's why it's so important to keep as far away from the 'enemy' as possible. The people who try to enter into a conversation with you at the track are the most dangerous because they can't resist telling the world what they know. You're right,the only way to get rid of the 'hangers on' is to throw them a red herring so that it costs THEM money. They disappear into the woodwork after that.

Here's a funny story that had us all in fits after it happened. After a few weeks of ducking and diving,it was time to bet my mate's dog at Ipswich (flapping track). We contacted the usual suspects for putting on the money but one bloke couldn't make it so we had to draft in one of my mate's son. This lad wouldn't know one end of a greyhound from the other and had never had a bet before but we gave him the lowdown as best we could. The conversation went "You take that bookmaker there but wait for the signal to go in from Tony (me!)". It must have been 10 mins. before the start of the race and everybody was calmly strolling around,leaning on a wall all trying to look as inconspicuous as possible EXCEPT my mate's son. He was on his starting blocks with his eyes not leaving me for a milisecond,beads of nervous sweat on his forehead. I sort of gave him a reassuring wink which kicked it all off. Shouts off "Nooooo,not yet" went undeterred. The bookmaker,who was chatting to his bag man and having a cup of tea at the time,didn't know what hit him. He went flying,his bag man landed on the deck and the cup and saucer disappeared on to the track. There was no price on the board but my mate's son was determined. We were laughing so much,the game was obviously up so we withdrew the dog and headed off back to the kennels.

[meatboy]

sorry i have been hi jacked[ba--ad bookies] had to take the lap top to the vets it seems to be working now so as arnie said i will be back.talk to you tomorrow mate.

[oldgit]

sorry i have been hi jacked[ba--ad bookies] had to take the lap top to the vets it seems to be working now so as arnie said i will be back.talk to you tomorrow mate.

No worries,Taff. Did the vet give your laptop "some of the old jollop" to get it going?

[meatboy]

sorry i have been hi jacked[ba--ad bookies] had to take the lap top to the vets it seems to be working now so as arnie said i will be back.talk to you tomorrow mate.

No worries,Taff. Did the vet give your laptop "some of the old jollop" to get it going?

got it back mate but after a few trials its s.o.b. v.s.a. not doing it at all,so its got to go back for more treatment.

got a fealing its been given a "mickey fin" its getting old [5yrs] and slowing down after see what the vet says.

taff.

[meatboy]

passed fit yesterday after a good trial.

every greyhound owner dreams of having a good dog but me being a flapping man sometimes they can be one big headache.

1973 i saved up enough money to go to shelbourne park for the sales.i had a catalogue so it was study study study.

going on the ferry overnight with a thousand pounds in my pocket i was either overjoyed or nervous,i had picked out a couple of dogs i was interested in.

one was a sole aim dog[name witheld] who won his trial in 34.08 a pretty good time.i went to the paddock to inspect the dog,he was a big red dog,vet passed him sound but i didnt look at his teeth till after i had bought him[800pounds] got him home to yorkshire and found out after my vet had a look at him he needed some

6bad ones pulling out.anyway after giving him a month to settle he was easy to handle,now came the time to show him off.

fck me i had a racing machine after trialing him at hyde park sheffield which was far away from prying eye's the handicapper said he was too fast for graded races,then i tried him at kingsley after giving him a bucket full of grub he clocked 19.80 far too fast and this was from a distance dog.

so now i had no alternative but to run him in opens,then the headaches got worse he run terrible in all of them and i dun my brains.

then came the decision to take him to blackpool a big galloping track but also it was outside hare the same as he was used to,was this the answer.

well half way to blackpool i gave him pork pies and some faggots which would be a bit heavyer in his belly and half a sleeping tablet surely this would slow him down.going to the paddock he was dragging his toe nails along the ground so i knew he was going to do a slow time.

well going to the first bend he was flying chkd.and tubled over on to the wire on the hare rail oh shit what have i done,well he got up and finnished in a qualifying time but the handicapper said he would have to come back.i didnt care as long as he was sound after giving him a good going over he seemed alright this was on a wednesday so friday night i decided i would take him to donny again a big gallopping track to make sure he was alright.

that night i was to regret what happened,i put him in a 6dog trial in box 6 he came out and broke the track record 29.24 for 525.bloody hell what am i doing wrong,one was not to except a thousand pound i was offered.

so his next race an open at donny you couldnt get a bet on him as most knew what he had done,me i was not bothered i only wanted him to win or run well

he done it again fkg.last.so i was told take him to sheffield owlerton no bends just like a half moon.he took to it like water won his first race when not expected to

but when he was trained up to win and we could get on with confidence this led to me getting banned we had been shit on by the trainer every one was on behind the boards.i did sell him for only 300quid but it was only to end in tears sadly he broke out of his kennel and got run over.

i still remember you red.taffy.