Topstar Honcho ran with credit to finish 3rd in his first race in front of the Sky Cameras on Thursday evening. The track certainly favoured the middle to wide runners as the results on the night suggested, Star however did'nt let that get in the way of his gutsy and determined effort.
Sunday at Iceman Kennels saw a number of the Category 1 Greyhounds syndicate owners arrive to check out their superstars of now and the future.


Paul Baines a shareholder in the Topstar Honcho syndicate with Star himself.

Some of our members of the Big Chief syndicate also came down to see how he is coming along and 'Charlie' as he is known in the kennel decided to show them he is in fine fettle and did a couple of laps of homour in one of the larger paddocks for their entertainment.




Questhouse Em is also doing well and has settled in nicely, she is a lovely friendly bitch who will hopefully go on and win a race or two for us.



Up at Questhouse 'Storming Hawk' is also thriving as his picture below shows, Hawk is the dog on the left of the picture with the big white chest.



We now have a gallery page that anyone can access by clicking the link 'Gallery' underneath the Members section link on the left hand side of the blog page.
In here you will find a superb collection of photo's from the Category 1 Archive!!!
Just click the link to view........................

Topstar Honcho makes his debut on Sky tomorrow evening and kicks off the live action in the first race at 7.40pm out of Trap 2.
The race looks pretty hot with Uncle Ollie the likely favourite after his exploits earlier in the month around Nottingham over the 500M trip.

7.40pm The £1,000 Betfred Casino 480m Trophy

1. Vigorous Pat G Kovac (Coventry)
2. Topstar Honcho L Burford (Coventry)
3. Salacres Gift (m) P H Harnden (Nottingham)
4. Yahoo Jamie (m) C R Lister (Unattached)
5. Uncle Ollie (m) P J Rosney (Unattached)
6. Love Knight (w) E Forster (Unattached)

Lance also has Icemaid Lilley in the 8.15pm and we would like to wish Lilley and all at the Iceman kennels all the best for her race.

After a visit up to Questhouse Kennels I can confirm that at 8 months old our Westmead Hawk x Jazz Hurricane dog pup 'Storming Hawk' is a striking and simply stunning individual. I must convey my thanks to Dave and his dad for their superb hospitality as always but also on the magnificent job they have done so far with not only Storming Hawk but all the pups they have at Questhouse.

Storming Hawk really does look the part and he gave me a real sense of anticipation and excitment for next year when I saw him, if he can run as well as he looks then roll on 2010 because we could have a very good year!

Also as a result of my visit to Questhouse I can reveal we have a new addition to the team at Category 1 Greyhounds.

Details on this new syndicate will be available on our website very soon, but be quick if your interested as I can see this new syndicate filling very quickly indeed.

Topstar Honcho was in action last night at Sunderland and finished a very creditable second after suffering some severe trouble at the first bend, on the night however trouble seemed to be on the menu in every single 4 bend race on the card. It has been a long time since I have witnessed so much trouble on one racecard and seen so many dogs get knocked over, fortunately all the dogs did seem to come off the track in one peice.

After speaking with Lance today it seems Star is in good order this morning despite last nights events and we will now look to find another race for him in the near future.

We also have a new and interesting little thread on our forum called 'Punting Pointers' that is definately worth a read, just click the forum tab on the menu bar and visit the General Discussion area in the forum to see what its all about.

Unfortunately Advantage Johnny failed to qualify for the Semi-finals of the BetFred Eclipse at Nottingham on Monday after finishing fourth to a very good winner in Eye OnThe Storm. Whilst Johnny trapped well in second place and chased hard down the back straight his efforts were in vain, it would seem that coming off the last bend his efforts to get to Eye OnThe Storm were taking there toll and he came home just outside of a qualifying place. Where Johnny goes next is up to Lance but he is likely to be running again in the very near future so be sure to keep an eye out for him.

Questhouse Em has now joined us and team Iceman from Charlie Lister's kennel after we agreed a deal with the owner and breeder Dave Wood from Questhouse Kennels to lease her for the remainder of her racing career, once she has finished racing she will return to Dave and his breeding establishment to hopefully whelp future open class litters.

Em is herself open class and clocked a superb 29.05 at Sheffield in only her second ever race and we look forward to some good racing in the future with her under the Category 1 Greyhounds syndicate name.

On Friday Lance and his team journey north undertaking a 5 hour trip to Sunderland for the open race card with four runners, one of which is Topstar Honcho. I did ask Lance if he had changed the kennel name to MADMAN instead of ICEMAN given his choice of travelling 5 hours to Sunderland on a cold and dark Friday night and the distinct possibility of only returning home around 3.00am on Saturday morning, but he assures me he is still sane, everything is cool and the Iceman Kennels have not undergone a change of name!!!

Star is in what looks to be the top heat over the standard trip on the card and will certainly come on for the run, if everything remains as it needs to be after Friday and he has come out of the race well and is in good order then we will probably look find him another race in the following 7-10 days.

Big Chief is doing well and starting to really settle now at Iceman Kennels, so once Lance thinks its time to start to put him through his paces a bit we will get more of an idea as to what he is all about.

Both Advantage Johnny and Topstar Honcho pleased Lance in their recent work out at Nottingham on Monday evening. Johnny has now been entered for the forthcoming Betfred Ecplise that is to be run over Nottingham's 500M trip and Topstar Honcho will go to Sunderland on Friday for another trial.

On Saturday morning I visited the kennels and must say that all of our dogs look in very good condition and shape, I also got the opportunity to see Big Chief for the first time in a good while and must say he looks as though he is a real nice stamp of a dog. Lance informed me that Big Chief is settling in nicely at the Iceman Kennel's, we have nothing planned for him just yet and will probably look to give him plenty of time to adjust to his surroundings and new routine before looking to qualify him for racing.

Also on Saturday I visited the Kennels of Kirstie Turner who is now looking after Advantage Martti for us and would just like to say that I was very impressed with the kennels and the set up that Kirstie and Dave have and wish them every success for the future and with Advantage Martti at Monmore.

Don't forget to watch this space as we will also have a new addition within our ranks at Category 1 Greyhounds at some point early next week!!!

Advantage Johnny has started on the comeback trail and went to Nottingham on Monday evening for a trial before racing over the 305M Sprint trip. Johnny put in a good trial and Lance was very happy with how he performed, he will now go back to Nottingham next Monday for another trial over the 500M trip before being entered for the £8,000 BetFred Eclipse the following week.

Topstar Honcho has now recieved the all clear to commence racing and will join Johnny next Monday at Nottingham for a trial over the 305M sprint trip. We have a number of options in mind for Star but he may need a race or two just to get back to full fitness so we won't be doing to much with him to soon.

Big Chief arrives in the UK on Wednesday and will join Lance and Team Iceman at the Iceman Kennels ready to start his racing career. Still only a very young puppy Big Chief has now successfully completed his schooling and will be given the time he needs to come to himself before being qualified for racing, as such it may be a little while before he has his first race.

Storming Hawk is now 8 months old and looks very well indeed, before we know it he will be off to be schooled and then join our team of racers at Iceman Kennels!!!