I did state in the History section of this site that lure coursing would always be our favoured discipline with racing very much a less favoured persuit. Well, prepare to learn of a U turn in our thinking.
From late Spring of this year (2006), we have focused our attention exclusively on racing and a fantastic time we have had. To begin with, we renewed our memberships with East Anglian Whippet Racing Club at their Newmarket track. The young dogs, Zorro and Henrietta were obviously new to racing from traps and had to be introduced slowly to this new experience. A little patience from ourselves and they responded suitably. Within a short time they were both entering traps readily and just as importantly, exiting correctly. It did take some little time for them both to leave traps at speed and without any hesitation with Henrietta achieving this sooner than Zorro who did have a tendency to dwell a little as the trap opened. This slight problem was soon cured and they were soon competing on equal terms with the opposition .As for the others, Moss was a seasoned campaigner and she returned to the track with no hesitation. Tilley however was a slightly different proposition. She was keen to race but unfortunately she was just as keen to make contact with the other dogs which if allowed to continue, would have made her very unpopular. We elected therefore to run her in trials for the foreseeable future. By so doing, Tilley could run alone or with The Shiner and not interfere with other dogs. Now for The Shiner. She was proving to be a slight problem in as much as she was reluctant to race beyond a few yards having left the trap. We tried various means to overcome this and eventually the solution was found. Diane had been entering The Shiner in her trap which clearly confused the dog. Having changed the order, with Pam doing the entering, The Shiner began to race again. It was just a question of trying to think as a dog would and as the Shiner lives with Pam she was obviously less comfortable with Diane putting her in the trap. Anyway, problem solved.
Our racing involvement moved on apace. We joined Harvel Pedigree Whippet Racing Club and we now race at this track on a fortnightly basis, reverting to the Newmarket venue for the winter sessions as this club runs an excellent winter programme. We also have raced at Maidstone PWRC for one of their Opens.
Early October 2006 found us competing with Zorro and Henrietta at the 4th Championships at Moreton-in-Marsh. This is a terrific event, occurring 4 times each year and attracting pedigree whippets from all over the country.
Zorro made the semi final of his group with Henrietta fairing lass well, being eliminated in the first round of her group. As stated earlier, Henrietta was not at her best so could be forgiven. Zorro was almost denied entry at the last moment and details of this drama can be read under the heading ZORROGATE! a little later.
To sum up, we have thoroughly enjoyed our racing season as have the dogs. Modest success only has been achieved but we hope to build on that next year. Moss and Tilley will run as veterans from next June as they turn 6 years of age and we look forward to that. All the dogs have remained sound. We have met some excellent people and learned much from the wealth of expertise and experience that abounds in the whippet racing world. Now, as promised.....
ZORROGATE!
Zorro was disqualified at Maidstone for interfering. We re qualified him the following week at Harvel. He was now entitled to run in The Champs which was to take place over the following weekend. On the next Friday evening, the day before we were to leave for Moreton-in-Marsh, I had a phone call from the Disqualification Officer of Whippet Club Racing Association. She informed me that as Zorro had been disqualified at Maidstone, he would have to re qualify at that track. Re qualifying at Harvel should not have been allowed. This came as a bolt out of the blue as this rule had not been known by me and more importantly, the Harvel officials were not aware also. Frantic phone calls followed to achieve some clarification of the position as the weekend’s competition for our dogs was placed in serious jeopardy. Equally we felt that we were being unfairly treated. We were no further forward as we entered Saturday but Diane and I decided to travel and to deal with this problem when we arrived at the venue. Upon our arrival we learned that much discussion amongst WCRA officials had taken place over the preceding evening and continued during Saturday. We remained anxious as to the outcome and by no means confident. Sunday found us again at the track to be told that a further meeting was in progress. The weigh in progressed with still no resolution. Eventually, we were informed that Zorro could compete and that the Disqualification Officer had been over ruled. Zorro was quickly weighed in and the drama ended. Talk about never a dull moment!!
