All night poker/pool/boxing session on Saturday night with the ITB boys was a scream, had a proper laugh and thoroughly enjoyed their great company and top hospitality.
Rooks and myself left when the Calzage fight finished (about 6am) and drove straight to his Greyhound trainers kennels, we got there at about 7ish, (after stopping at maccyD's for brekkie) ... then parked up outside and grabbed 40 winks as the trainer wasn't due to meet us until 9am.
9am arrives and we get invited in to the kennels for a coffee and get ribbed for being total degens for pulling an all nighter and kipping in the car outside the kennels LOL
We see Rodders & Cassie, and Rodney goes bananas when he sees rooks, there is some bond there, its a joy to see. Cassie is so calm compared to Rodney, she just takes everything in her stride and is so alert.
90 dogs in the kennels, and it really is as noisy and as manic as you would imagine, but the staff there are all top notch and they clearly know the game inside out, there was a bit of a sombre mood though as one of their dogs had broken a hock in an open race at Hull the previous night and they were waiting for vets reports etc , A stark reminder of the possible injuries that can happen in the sport.
We loaded Cassie & Rodders into the trainers van and made our way down to the practice track and after waiting for some other trainers to run their hounds, it was finally time to see what Rookies 2 could do ...
Cassie first, The trainer loaded her into the traps (after walking her through a couple of times) and the hare was on the move ... Lids pinged and Cassie was off .... she chased superbly and recorded a decent time, beating her only other trapped start in the process, big beaming smiles from all of us including the trainer !!
Then dopey Rodney stepped up for his FIRST crack at a trapped start ... rooks was like an expectant father, pacing up and down on the sidelines as Rodney was loaded ... hare on the move and Rodney got a bit of a shock as the noise of the gates opening must have spooked him a bit, but he caught sight of the bunny and he was off, his stride was a bit messy at first, but he soon found it and got his action going ... he cracked on round the track and for his first run was bloody impressive time wise, fractions slower than Cassie, but a cracking first showing thats for sure.
I have vids on my phone and
I will get Jane to upload them asap.
Would like to add that I was so impressed with the set up at the trainers, and I would like to thank them for answering all my questions patiently and being great company ... friendly and very professional set up, which impressed me greatly. ( I managed to get one of them to open a poker room account ... RESULT) LOLOL
So with everything heading in the right direction, and with a bit of luck, Cassie could have her first race just before Xmas .... Cant bloody wait.
PS. the weekend was a complete period of degenerate gambling and sleep deprivation .... I loved every second of it
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