RIP Bella 13 years and nearly 3 months :-(

I posted this a few years ago about Bella - thought it relevant to her passing today.

Hi, my name is Bella, I am a 9 and a half year old greyhound.

I started life like so many of my kind, reared in full freedom, fed the best and catered for by my caring rearer.

At 12 months I was introduced to a schooling track, wow, that was some excitement, I couldn’t wait to go back.

At 16 months I was taken to a race track and raced for the first time against 5 other greys, the thrill of it all is beyond words..

I was sold from Ireland to my new owner Richard Newell at 2 years old and started racing at Perry Barr. My trainer continued to feed me well and exercised me regularly. I had checks at vets and muscle men manipulating me, I was in prime condition and performed to the best of my capabilities. I was stepped up in trip and started winning some good races, then Richard began to take me Open racing all over the country. I knew I was going to have some excitement every time Richard’s car drew up at the kennels and I couldn’t wait to get in the car and go racing.
I won several races and won a race on a SKY night where I was paraded around the track like I was a Queen!

I did eventually pick up an injury, an injury I could have picked up in a field just as easy as on a race track. My owner tried to fix me but alas I had to be retired. I am now 9 and a half years old and still live at Richard’s place with a few others of my kind, we all get on but I am so jealous when Richard opens his car door and my friends jump in to go racing, I try my best to jump in there with them and go for another race, sadly I can’t, but I still get walked every day, I get fed well every day, I get the occasional run about in the nearby farmers field, I have had a good life and I am enjoying my retirement despite being unable to race.

Often when out walking with Richard he talks to me about the people out there that want to stop me and my kind from racing. I don’t understand why anyone would want to stop us from doing what we love to do. I know that thousands of my kind are rehomed upon retirement from racing and live out their lives in similar conditions to myself.

There are a few scary fairy tales about dogs being abused but Richard and I both know, along with thousands of other sensible people that these are just a small minority of cases and the people that want to stop me and my kind racing glorify these negatives when in reality the vast majority of us greyhounds have a great life, I really wouldn’t want to be any other animal!

Time for a snooze now and I’ll dream about catching that hare!

Yours Bella

A nearly weekend

Boots comes 2nd by a head in his 2nd race - still running like a big baby with loads to come (hopefully!)

Swift comes 3rd but is on easy street now for a month or so and then think we'll prepare her for the Ted Hegarthy at HX as I think she'll stay 1000 yards. With very few marathons in Ireland think we'll have to consider selling her in the New Year which is a shame but really no point keeping her if that's the trip she wants - it's hard enough finding 750 races!

Our Kinloch Brae bitches, Heather's Hare and History, are now sold to our friends in Romford that had Newmac King and Boudica - good luck to them and hope they go through the grades for their new owners!

Boots 3rd

Boots totally missed his break after showing good trapping in trials, but still ran credibly in to 3rd place. We'll try and find an A6/7 stake for him now over 525. The win time was good and considering he's not even seen the hare in running think the experience will have done him the world of good.

Galway races was great craic, both Ballybrit and the Dog Track - backed the A5 Oran Majestic winner but had a sweat on the photo finish :-)

Boots has his first race Saturday night (4th August)

Typical of all the night's he could race I am away at Galway races LOL! He has trap 3 and have high hopes for him, trap 1 would have been better but sure we'll see where he goes from 3.