HISTORY
Mid-December 1998. Tuesday, 7.00pm. It's dark. I approach a stranger in the car-park of Reading greyhound stadium, exchange the secret code word (OK, I made that bit up!) and hand over in excess of £1000. We shake hands and go our separate ways.
This could have been an expensive mistake but instead it has opened up an interest in racing greyhounds I wish I'd had many years ago.
It all started in the run up to Christmas with my not having a clue what to buy my then wife Julie as a present. It's hard to say how my warped mind stumbled across the idea of a racing greyhound - I had never been dog racing, Julie only once to Belle Vue in a former life - and I knew nothing about the sport whatsoever. My parents did have a couple of retired dogs when I was in my early teens but that was it. But once I'd thought of it, the idea seemed to grow and I was taken over by the challenge of making it happen.
It took me a week to find the number of Reading Greyhound Stadium, and another week to pluck up the courage to ring them! They greeted my call with some surprise but were efficient enough to give me the names and phone numbers of 2 or 3 trainers. I think now that tracks should do more at this stage, and generally, to help prospective owners into the sport.
The first trainer I spoke to didn't have any dogs for sale and through no fault of his own was unable to help me at that time. The second, Mick Smith, agreed to find me a dog for around my £1000 budget and was helpful enough in explaining the costs involved, the set up and what I might expect for my money. I was by now reading the greyhound section of the Racing Post myself and was learning something of the sport. One day the call came that Mick had found me a dog - one I had seen for sale in that morning's paper - Belvedere Robin.
That evening, as described above, I parted with the the hard-earned cash. The next week I made my first visit to Kath Smith's kennels to see what my money had got me. Robin was friendly enough but could he run? He was only 20 months old and had had a couple of Irish races but was yet to trial in the UK. Subsequently, Robin raced over 100 times for me, and instilled a love for the breed and an interest in racing unlikely to be lost.
Nearly 7 years on, and Robin is enjoying his well-earned retirement. He has been followed to the race track by Angel, Rolo, Magic, Tuffy, Spot, Bella, Solo and the latest addition Micky. All have been wonderful (and frustrating, surprising, puzzling, infuriating) but the overall combination has been to build my interest in the sport, which I now intend to take as far as limited finances/time allow.
I hope this web-site enables others to share the journey, and encourages more people into what is a hugely enjoyable sport.