After another blistering start from the traps in his latest race Big Chief did'nt seem to show the pace he has down the back striaght at Monmore and all did not look well. It was confirmed after the race that he has picked up an injury that will keep him off the track for around a month, obviously this is the reason for his below par performance but fortunately he will be back on the track in the near future.

Storming Hawk has settled in well for Paul Sallis and will be brought along as Paul see's fit given his age and size.

Advantage Martti is due a return to the card for Kirsty and Dave in the near future. Martti has been very consistent for us and deserves a mention for his efforts week in and week out. He is a great little dog who is a joy to own and is still improving as each month passes by, rarely does he fail to make the first three in his races and is as honest and hard running as any dog you could wish to own, keep up the good work Martti !

Both Big Chief and Advantage Martti turned in very good performances on Thursday night finishing second (beaten a neck) and third (beaten a length) respectively.

Advantage Martti was first up and looking to have no chance down the back he came from 6 lengths off the pace to not quite get there in time and lose with only a length, again running his race in an honest and genuine fashion.

Big Chief on the other hand absolutely flew out of the traps and comfortably clocked the fastest sectional of the night, it looked as though Charlie was going to notch up his first win but it was not to be with him leading everywhere except on the line and only being denied in a photo finish.



(Advantage Martti in trap 5)

(Big Chief in trap 6)

Our pup in Ireland Storming Hawk (Westmead Hawk x Jazz Hurricane - March 2009) has had his first handslip and bombed round a couple of bends at Clonmel according to our schooler Marie Baker. He is still a big 76lb baby at the moment but is also a powerful and stunning looking pup according to Marie and we are hopeful he will turn out to be a very useful prospect for later on this year.

Big Chief qualified for the Peterborough puppy Derby but all did'nt go according to plan, which to be fair was'nt unexpected given the level of competition he was up against but he showed some nice signs of real pace and we decided that after his exit from the competition to give him a run at Monmore on Saturday.
Again, luck was'nt on his side, cracking out from Trap 6 he clocked a superb 4.17 sectional with everything looking as though it was going according to plan coming out of the second bend, but somebody forgot to read the script and decided to carry Charlie (Big Chief) across to the hare rail down the back letting the other dogs up the inside and forcing Charlie to check up and lose his momentum.
There was further crowding at the third bend and that resulted in any chance Charlie may of had being lost altogether, fortunately he came of sound and none the worse for the race and he should be racing again very soon.

Advantage Marrti has been running very creditably at Monmore for Kirstie and Dave. He recently notched up his second victory at Monmore and has only finished outside of the first three on two of his last nine races, even then he was only fourth! He seems to have really come to himself over the last couple of months and it is a great credit to all the hard work both Kirstie and Dave do.

(Advantage Johnny Trap 5)


Advantage Johnny today finished 4th in his race at Hall Green, after breaking well and getting into a good position round the first bend he swung off very wide at the second bend and effectively lost all chance of winning the race from there on in. Sometimes going in to a race at a track like Hall Green without a previous look round can catch a dog out and it would seem that was the case with Johnny today.
 
Both Big Chief and Topstar Honcho are likely to have outings this coming week, both will be having solo sprint trials with either Monmore on Tuesday or Peterborough on Thursday their likely destination.
 
Storming Hawk is pleasing Marie over in Ireland and tips the scales at a whopping 80lbs or 37kg, he is a brute of a dog apparently but I was shocked to say the least when she told me how big he was. Jazz's first litter are really doing the business on the track, hopefully her second will do the same and Storming Hawk will be another promising young pup that we can look forward too later this year.

Advantage Johnny finished second in his last race at Oxford after coming from well off the pace to just fail in getting his nose in front before the line, Johnny will now go to Hall Green this Sunday for the Mothers Day meeting over the standard 480M trip. We are quite pleased with his last couple of runs and it shows that there is still life in the old dog yet, who knows he might even go on to surprise us and everybody else for that matter over the coming Summer months.
 
Topstar Honcho is likely to be on the comeback trail in the next 10-14 days after his lay off with injury and he will hopefully be back in racing action towards the end of this month. If we can keep him sound we are hopeful of a good Summer campaign with the Sunderland and Monmore competitions very much on his agenda.
 
Both our pups Big Chief and Storming Hawk are well and progressing nicely, but as with all pups patience is the order of the day and we are certainly in no rush with either of them.

Advantage Johnny gave away 3 or 4 lengths out of the boxes on Tuesday night in the 7.40pm race that was shown live on Sky Sports and still ran a huge race to be second to Arc finalist Gilbeyhall Jake.
I think it is fair to say that with a better exit he would have either won or gone very close, but he did'nt and that as they say is dog racing. Johnny certainly seems to be coming to himself a little just of late and he will probably head to Oxford this coming Thursday for the open races on the Trafalgar Puppy Cup card before a possible return to Wimbledon on Juvenile night early in March.






Big Chief was a little unlucky in his recent trial on Tuesday but heads back to Monmore again this coming Tuesday for his final qualifying trial over the 480M trip. Once he has qualified we will take a look at what races he is eligable for and enter him up accordingly, but he should be having his first competetive start before the end of the month for his syndicate members who I know are all very excited.

Some of Big Chief's litter mates are doing very well, from only 3 runs there has been a win and two second place finishes. In particular Rock it Diva has really impressed winning comfortably in A5 at Nottingham at the first time of asking and then finishing second after being upgraded two grades to A3 on her second start for Paul Sallis and his team.

There is still a litter brother in Ireland who is doing very well and has impressed in his schooling trials, but as a whole the litter look very promising and we wish all the pups, their owners and trainers all the very best for this coming year.

Topstar Honcho is still on the easy list, whilst Storming Hawk is settling in nicely in Ireland and I will keep you all posted on his progress once he starts his schooling.

We are now 12 months on since Category 1 Greyhounds was launched and to date our statistics are as follows.

We have had our dogs compete in a total of 42 races of which we have had 7 wins, 8 seconds and 6 third placed finishes which means that our dogs on average have finished in the first 3 of their races 50% of the time.

Our membership is continually growing nationwide and our race dogs and pups look as though they could go on to do all our syndicate members proud this coming year.

We will be making another appearance live on Sky on Tuesday evening in the first live race at 7.40pm courtesy of Advantage Johnny and we are hopeful he will put in a good performance at what could be attractive odds.

Whilst all our syndicates are currently full, we are actively looking to secure a deal for a top class 6 bend staying dog and anyone one who might be interested in joining this exciting new syndicate is more than welcome to contact us via phone or e-mail - admin@category1greyhounds.com to register their interest so as to avoid disappointment once the syndicate places become available as we do have a number of current members already interested in taking a share once this new syndicate is formed.

Advantage Johnny returns to the scene of his latest win tonight when puts on the striped jacket in a very warm (Division 1) heat of the standard 480M at Monmore Green.
He is the only wide runner in the race and is well in himself but it could be a very tall order if the likes of Farloe Reason return to anything like their best for Charlie Lister.

Tuesday sees Johnny head off to Wimbledon for the live Sky meeting where he runs in the first live race the 7.40pm. This as you would expect is again a very good race and out of Trap 5 will take a lot of winning, but as they say 'You've got to be in it, to win it'.

Big Chief trailed at Monmore on Tuesday and put in a very pleasing effort over the sprint distance of 264M. He will now go back to Monmore on Tuesday for another sprint but this time it will be in company, again over the sprint distance.

Topstar Honcho is recovering from his recent injury and will be off for some time yet but Lance reports the dog to be in really good order otherwise and its just a case of letting time play its part now in the healing process.

Advantage Johnny got back to winning ways at Monmore last Saturday over the standard 480M trip. Both myself and Lance were particularly pleased with his performance, given the atrocious weather we had been having prior to the last couple of weeks and the lack of opportunity we have had to do a great deal with him or any of the dogs. We are hopeful that run and win will have brought him on enough to see some further improvement the next time he runs.

Advantage Martti also visited the winners enclosure for us at Monmore this weekend winning in graded company. Whilst it was'nt really expected Martti will hopefully continue to improve now that he has his first win at Monmore under his belt, a big thanks must also go to both Kirstie and Dave for all their hard work with Martti.

Its all very exiting for members of another of our syndicates as Big Chief will trial at Monmore on Tuesday in what will be his very first appearance for his syndicate members.

Storming Hawk goes over to Ireland later this coming week to join Marie Baker prior to being schooled and we should know in the next couple of months how he is shaping up..

On a sad note Topstar Honcho will be off for around 2 months due to an injury that we were fortunate enough to find before he ran again. Simon Gower after examining Star found the injury and given some time he will hopefully make a full recovery.

Things are hopefully going to start to get going again now the weather is starting to improve. Both Topstar Honcho and Advantage Johnny exited the Betfair Arc at the first hurdle down at Swindon on Tuesday, but in all fairness so did a lot of other good dogs. The weather has without doubt interrupted or held up the preparation of most dogs and training establishments the length and breadth of the country over the last 6 weeks and it would seem a number of dogs really just need to get a run or two under their belt before they will they will be back to something like their best.

Star and Johnny both head for Monmore on Saturday evening now and hopefully the weather won't be a problem and we can get another run in to them both before making any further plans about what targets we may look at in the near future.

We will also be looking to get a trial into Big Chief in the next week, but again like so many others his schedule has just been on hold until the weather started to improve. It is likely he will visit Monmore for a sprint trial and given the rest he has had he will definately need the run.

Storming Hawk is fine but will be joining Marie Baker in Ireland sooner than planned to settle in prior to being schooled due to the difficult conditions the weather has created in Scotland where he is being reared.

Thursday see's a return to action for both Topstar Honcho and Advantage Johnny at Perry Barr, Johnny will trial before racing and Star will take in a division of the 480M Open Standard at 8.53pm that is on the card.

Both dogs have suffered a bit of late with little niggles which is frustrating given their capability, but I suppose that's how it goes in this game sometimes and after their respective runs tomorrow evening we should know a lot more as to how they have progressed over the last couple of weeks.

Big Chief and Questhouse Em are both likely to have a trial in the not to distant future which should be interesting and gives our members plenty to look forward too. Niether will be rushed and a lot will depend on the weather and were trials will be available due to the Christmas period being upon us very soon, but both will be seeing a racetrack prior to the New Year.

I spoke to Marie Baker our Schooler in Ireland recently and made arrangements for Storming Hawk to join her in the first week of March 2010, which is strange as it only seems like yesterday that we picked him and named him, this year really has flown by!

We would also like to take this opportunity to wish everyone of our members, associates, our breeder, trainers and kennel staff a very Merry Christmas and a very Prosperous New Year.

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.

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!!!

Its official, our pup pictured below has now been named and I recieved the paperwork today from the Greyhound Stud confiming that our March 2009 Westmead Hawk x Jazz Hurricane dog pup will be known on the racetrack as STORMING HAWK!



As you can see he is a great looker that is really well put together and is thriving up at Questhouse Kennels all thanks to Dave and his dad who really do give the dogs the best of everything.

Advantage Johnny will be back on the racetrack in the next week, whist Topstar Honcho is still probably a couple of weeks away from making another racecourse appearance, both however seem to be doing very well in their work at Iceman kennels and we look forward to seeing them both racing again very soon.

Big Chief has nearly finished his schooling in Ireland and has improved each week at the schooling track, he seems as though he is a dog that may need a little time before we see him on a racetrack and we will just take each week as it comes with him once he arrives in the UK as he is still only 15 months old.

Pictured above is Big Chief our July 08 pup who is currently being schooled in Ireland by Marie Baker.

Big Chief has schooled very well according to Marie and she is very pleased with him, he will be completing his schooling this weekend all being well and if Marie is happy that he is ready to move on after that then we could see him on a transporter and arriving over here in the UK at some point next week.

Keeping on the puppy front, our Westmead Hawk x Jazz Hurricane pup is thriving up at Questhouse along with his litter comrades and will soon have a name once the paperwork arrives back from the Greyhound Stud. Once your paperwork goes in its luck of the draw when you name a pup so we will see what we get allocated but I am hopeful that our first choice of Storming Hawk will be accepted.

Jazz's first litter to Droopys Kewell are doing very well on the racetrack and look as though they have the makings of what will be a very good litter.

Advantage Johnny and Topstar Honcho are making good progress in their bid to return to the track and are booked in to visit Simon Gower at Swindon next Tuesday, hopefully they will both get the all clear to resume racing after their visit with Simon. Advantage Martti runs again this evening at Coventry after his win last week and we are hopeful of another good show particularly if last weeks win has boosted his confidence.

Tonight at Coventry Advantage Martti registered his first win for us here at Category 1 Greyhounds and we would like to say a very big thank you to Lance, Pam and all the team at the Iceman Kennels for all the hard work they have done with Martti.

Its been a bit of a journey with this stunning looking little dog and we are very pleased for his syndicate members. Martti has always looked as though he would'nt stay that well and we thought that the 480M trip at Coventry would not suit him, but what do we know?

He has shown us tonight that he is more than happy over the 480M trip at Coventry and hopefully his confidence will have been boosted by his superb victory tonight, myself and Lance have both joked about the possibilty of him being a marathon dog such was the tenacity of his running to the knock off!!!

Anyway, we are back on the winners podium thanks to team Iceman and Martti, and its another winner for our members here at Category 1 Greyhounds.

Its all doom and gloom at the moment with both Johnny and Star picking up injuries in the last week. Advantage Johnny was sent off 4/7F in the heats of the Pride of the West but came away from the traps very awkwardly and as a result has a pulled muscle that will keep him out of action for three weeks.

Topstar Honcho qualified for the Semi-Finals of the Laurels and was due to contest them on Thursday, but due to his performance in the heats both myself and Lance thought it would be precautionary to get him checked over and after a visit to see Simon Gower at Swindon it has been confirmed he has picked up an injury that means he cannot run in this weeks Semi-Final at Belle Vue and will be off the track for around 3 to 4 weeks.

It is nothing too serious but enough to require him to be withdrawn from the competition and whilst it is disappointing, that as they say is dog racing!

It was great to see so many of our members at Coventry last night with over 20 people joining us for a superb nights racing. Whilst results might not of gone our way and Lance clocked a total of four seconds from six runners, something he tells me he has never managed before as he usually gets at least one winner!!!, It was good to see some of our current and new members get to meet and speak with one another and make new acquaintances and hopefully freindships through this great sport that is Greyhound racing.

So on to the racing, well Martti found more trouble after showing real good pace to the bend but as I said to some of our members, I was concerned at his draw and unfortunately that concern was justified, he seems to have come off sound after the race and Lance will check him over today just to see if all is well. Providing he is in good shape he will be back racing again this week but a better draw would be required to see young Martti in a better light.

Advantage Johnny was beaten a neck in second and ran a fair enough race, Lance is going to decide where we go next with Johnny but I know he has his eye on a couple of things and we will just see how the next week or so pans out, but he will be back on the racetrack in this next week I would think with possibly a return to Coventry on the cards

Topstar Honcho clocked a very useful 29.56, but again did'nt come away like he can and although he turned second and despite his efforts he got checked up a little bit at the second bend and could'nt quite get his head in front down the back. He is a wonderfully honest dog who always gives everything and ran a game and gallant race to finish second to a very good winner. Star will now go to Belle Vue on Thursday for a trial prior to an entry for the following weeks £10,000 Laurels competition at the track.

On the syndicates front it looks as though we are all sold out!!

We will have some very exciting news in the next four to six weeks though and do have a new syndicate coming along for a superb young pup who has recently been born, we have also had a lot of interest from our members regarding the purchase of a six bend/staying type dog, if anybody would like to get involved with this possible syndicate then please contact us as soon as possible at admin@category1greyhounds.com to avoid disappointment as this syndicate should it proceed, is likely to fill very quickly.


(Lance and Advantage Johnny) © David Yanez


(Topstar running his heart out) © David Yanez

On Sunday all of our race dogs go to Coventry on an all open race card that give's Lance and team Iceman a total of six runners.

We are represented by Advantage Martti who goes in Division B of the 480M Maiden, Advantage Johnny is in Division B of the 480M Standard and Topstar Honcho takes in Division A of the 480M Standard. Lance also has Iceman Reeko in the Sprint, Iceman Echo in Division C of the 480M Maiden, whilst Iceman Boss goes in Division C of the 480M Standard.

It looks a great card and hopefully we will see plenty of our members there.

Big Chief has been to Clonmel this week and moved well round two bends, he will be in Ireland for at least another three or four weeks and we hope he continues to improve and progress under the expert guidance of Kevin and Marie who I know are both very pleased with him.

Only 2 shares remain in the Westmead Hawk x Jazz Hurricane syndicate, all our other syndicates are now closed and we are currently assessing a few options prior to looking to form a new syndicate in the near future.

Topstar Honcho returned to the race track at Oxford last night to record an impressive victory in what looked to be a very good race. Star's record now reads as three wins from five runs since he joined us from Ireland and although he slightly missed his break last night he showed what real pace he has and put himself in a position to win the race as they went in to the first bend.
The favourite for the race Ardbeg Kate who is a very useful bitch turned the first bend with Star and it was all set for a great match up from there on in, Star however got his head in front coming out of the second bend and going in to the back straight, from there on in though as hard as the favourite tried she was never going to pick up Star.
Going on to win by 2 lengths in 26.92 Star made a very pleasing return to his racing career and a huge amount of credit must go to Lance and the team for the hard work, time, dedication and patience they have put in and shown to get Star back on to the winners podium on his first race for nearly 12 weeks, it was a fantastic effort by both Star and all the team at Iceman Racing.
 
Advantage Johnny ran later on the card at 9.59pm in the £1,500 Tech-Shop Maiden Derby Final, Johnny missed his break quite badly and trapped out last. Going in to the first bend he was forced to just tuck in behind the other five dogs before checking out wide coming out of the second bend and show his pace down the back straight. The race had gone by this point as the favourite had stretched right away and Johnny just had too much ground to make up but ran on to finish a comfortable second, again doing himself and the Iceman team proud.
 
We are now looking to make some decisions in the coming week as to where both Star and Johnny will go next with a trail at Belle Vue a possibility for both with a view to a tilt at the Laurels later on in the month.

Oxfords 1st bend © David Yanez


Adavantage Johnny with Lance © David Yanez


Advantage Johnny on parade © David Yanez


Winners Jacket for Topstar Honcho © David Yanez


Presentation to connections of Topstar Honcho © David Yanez


Images © David Yanez No reproduction without prior consent.

Irish greyhound racing sensation Advantage Johnny has now joined Category 1 Greyhounds, if you would like to be involved in this syndicate then please visit Johnny's syndicate page for more details.

We are looking forward to both Advantage Johnny and Topstar Honcho trialling at Coventry on Tuesday and both myself and Lance will be looking to make a few decisions as to what might be the best route for each of the dogs in the coming weeks given the great competitions that are on the horizon.

Advantage Martti was very slow away last night at Coventry before showing great pace to the bend but then cut in to miss the trouble in front and hit the rail quite hard. Lance say's he seems to have come off the track sound though and although he might be a bit sore today it should'nt be a problem and all being well he should be fit to run this coming weekend.

During the course of the weekend I recieved a phone call regarding what can only be described as a seroiusly fast April 07 Dog who is available to Category 1 Greyhounds should we wish to purchase him.

I cannot reveal the name of the dog for various reasons but can give you an indication of his ability.

This stunning individual has comfortably gone under 28.70 for the 525yd distance and easily broke the 30.00 barrier for the 550yd trip at Dundalk. At Lifford he has broken 28.80 for the 525yd trip and also comfortably gone under the 31.50 barrier for the 575yd distance.

Quite simply this dog is an awesome race dog, who is already proven at the top level.

If anyone is interested in becoming involved in such a serious contender for all of the Category 1 races over here in the UK then please do not hesitate to let us know via e-mail.

The syndicate we are looking to put together to purchase this fellow will be limited to a maximum of 25 members and will include all costs for 12 months involvement.
The cost per member will be a maximum of £750 each, but we are hopeful that we can reduce that cost to around £675/£700 should we be able to make a successful bid.

Please use the Contact page to get in touch

You can now see the video footage on this blog of Topstar Honcho's recent wins at Monmore and Sheffield. Star has been entered up for a race Sheffield again this coming Tuesday 9th June but this time, if accepted, will be taking in the 280 Mtr Open Race Sprint that is on the card. Hopefully Star can continue to put his early pace to good use and put in another good performance over the shorter distance.

On Saturday evening all eyes were on the Derby Final at Wimbledon for most of the Greyhound fratenity but for the members of Category 1's Topstar Honcho syndicate all eyes were on Monmore Green and the 7.58 Div 1 of the Maiden Open that saw our very own Topstar Honcho in the blue of Trap 2.
 
Obviously the Bookmakers had been reading his Irish form and opened him up at a very cautious 6/4, he did however drift to 7/4 before our members decided that was as good as it might get and proceeded to highlight their support for young Starry Boy!
 
Going off the 4/5 Favourite Star rocketed from the boxes and put down a supersonic 4.16 sectional which took him to the front at the first bend, from there on he showed what raw pace he has and put the rest of the field to the sword stretching out and going clear by 8 or so lengths down the back straight, Oi Oi was the cry as Star continued relentlessly on to the line clocking a superb 28.32 and winning by an official margin of 5 lengths.
 
All our members thoroughly enjoyed what was a magnificent performance by Star and Lance, Pam and all the Team at the Iceman Racing Kennels. Our thanks go to everyone at the Iceman Kennels for all their patience and hard work and it is all very much appreciated. On another note one of the members of the Topstar Honcho syndicate 'Crazy Dave' or 'Lucky' as he is known had his first ever experience as a greyhound owner crowned with a victory thanks to Star and the team. As a result of Star's success Dave made his way to the bar and from there on in the Champagne flowed and 'Crazy Dave' and the rest of us enjoyed the remainder of the evening!
 
Star now runs at Sheffield on Tuesday in another Maiden Open over the 480mtr trip and we hope he will continue to improve as the weeks go by.
 
I spoke with Dave up at Questhouse yesterday in preparation for my trip up there next week and all is well will Big Chief and the Westmead Hawk x Jazz Hurricane litter.
 
We should have some new pictures of Big Chief on his page very soon and if anybody is interested in becoming involved in the Big Chief syndicate then please be quick as their are only 2 places remaining.

A brilliant nights racing awaits at Monmore Green tonight, a smashing Open race card with our own Topstar Honcho running in Division 1 of the maiden. I have pasted the race form below and its looks a very interesting race indeed.
All eyes will be on the screens to watch the Live action from Wimbledon culminating in the Greyhound Derby Final.

If anyone has’nt got Sky or cannot get to a screen then you can do worse than clicking this link, justin.tv it is free and instant.....enjoy the night.

Advantage Martti and Topstar Honcho will be trialing at Coventry on Tuesday over the sprint trip.

Our pup Big Chief is coming along nicely and we should have some new video footage of him and his littermates on his syndicate page very soon. All is well up at Questhouse and the Westmead Hawk x Jazz Hurricane pups are coming along very nicely and we may be looking to purchase a few more pups before the year is out from Questhouse as Dave is looking to produce even more superb litters.
Miss Wonderful (Advantage Martti) has gone to a sire I am very keen on in Droopys Maldini and that is definately a litter we will be considering as well as any litter Droopys Lena or Final Rose may produce before the end of the year.

Please visit our forum at category1greyhounds and become a member. We have a range of superb competitions and prizes for the winners and they are all free to enter, all you have to do is register as a member to get involved.

Congratulations to Andy Wilson as he is currently leading our derby competition with maximum points after the first two rounds, there is however a long way to go yet and it could all change. Also, our next Sky night tipping competition is scheduled for Tuesday 19th May which is Derby Q-Final's night.
The cash jackpot is now £100 after nobody managed to win on Peterborough Puppy Derby night, remember its free to enter any of the competitions providing your a forum member.

Advantage Martii totally missed the kick last night at Coventry, last out he showed pace to the bend but got a little tangled up with the 5 dog.
He came home last and plastered in sand, but thankfully non the worse for his first outing in the UK.

We now have a new feature in our private members section which allows all our members to view exclusive footage of our syndicate dogs. This feature is sure to be a hit with our members and I would like to thank our website designer Dave Yanez for his time and effort to make this superb and informative facility available to Category 1 Greyhounds.

Advantage Martti has completed his qualifying trials and is set to make his racing debut in the next week or so, Lance is happy with his progress but expects him to progress the more racing he has given he is still very young and has had only very limited experience on the race track.

Dave Wood up at Questhouse reports everything to be in good order and it won't be long now before Big Chief is set to make his journey down from Berwick upon Tweed to the Iceman Kennels. The Westmead Hawk x Jazz Hurricane pups are also doing well.

We still have places available in some of our syndicates but they are getting less by the day so if anyone has any interest in any of our syndicates please feel free to contact us at your convenience.

We can now confirm after speaking with Stefan Watson (Owner) earlier today that we have agreed the purchase of two 'YES TWO!!!' dog pups from the litter recently whelped at Questhouse Kennels that is Westmead Hawk x Jazz Hurricane.
We would firstly like to thank Stefan for allowing us to purchase two of the dog pups from this very sort after litter and for also allowing us to have the pick of the dogs from this litter once he has chosen one from the six that are available for himself.

Obviously we have had a significant amount of interest in this particular syndicate given how successful both Westmead Hawk and Jazz Hurricane were on the racetrack and I strongly urge anyone who is interested to take a look at the costs involved on our syndicates page for this particular syndicate as both dogs will be covered by the one syndicate. What that means is that we will have a syndicate that will consist of 20 shares in both dogs so that you as an owner have an interest in both dogs and will not have the dilemma of picking which particular dog pup you are going to get involved with as both could be potential superstars of the future.

We feel that this indicates that we are serious about what we are trying to achieve at Category 1 Greyhounds and hope that as members, you view it the same way and come and join us for what we feel will prove to be very exciting times in the future.

We have now included a payments section to our website so that members can easily make transactions in order to purchase or make payments towards the syndicates with which they are involved. All major credit cards and Paypal are accepted along with Direct Debits which can also be set up through the payments section on the website to make things easy for all our members to manage how they would like to pay for their involvement with any of our syndicates.

We are currently working on a password protected members section that will be solely for the benefit of all our members. In this section will be all the regular updates on our dogs and their current form at home and on the track, along with other privileged information you would expect to receive as an owner.

Finally the new Westmead Hawk x Jazz Hurricane pup syndicate we are looking to create is, as you would expect, generating a significant amount of interest. So please if you are genuinely interested register your interest as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.

Category 1 Greyhounds have just acquired an exciting addition to the ranks. Topstar Honcho, winner of 11 out of his 24 races including a most recent 28.81 win at Dundalk will be arriving on these shores early on Saturday morning.
He will be trained by Lance Burford and his team near Wombourne in Staffordshire with a view to furthering his career on the Open race circuits of the UK.
Anyone interested in becoming a member of this syndicate, please use the contact page to get in touch. Full details and images will appear on Topstar Honcho’s page very soon.

Advantage Martti has proved to be a real hit with our members with his syndicate selling out within 24 hours, hopefully Martti will now repay the faith his shareholders have so eagerly shown in him and give them plenty to cheer about on the racetrack in the near future.

Such is the success of Martti's syndicate we are now looking to form another syndicate. After several enquiries from potential new members to Category 1 Greyhounds who have asked us if we would be looking to aquire an open class competition dog for the coming summer months we have decided to do just that. So if anybody would be interested in such a syndicate please look at the information on our syndicates page for more details.

Category 1 Greyhounds welcome a new recruit

This week Category 1 Greyhounds secured a promising young race dog who goes by the name of Advantage Martti.

Previously owned by Mr Joe Gregg who also owned the dogs mother Miss Wonderful and the flying machine that was Advantage Johnny, Martti will now become part of Category 1 Greyhounds racing team and will reside at the Iceman Kennels under the expert handling of Lance Burford and his team. We would like to thank Joe for the opportunity to purchase this young dog who should improve during the coming months and should he match the achievements of his litter comrades, particularly his litter brother Vote for Pedro then we at Category 1 Greyhounds will be more than happy with young Martti.

Four of the ten shares have already been reserved in this young dog, so anyone who is interested in becoming part of this new syndicate should reserve their shareholding as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.

This week we received the official paperwork back for 'Mack' and he will now be officially known on the race track as 'Big Chief'.

Dave has had some real issues with the weather up at Questhouse over the last few weeks and I think he is now sending the dogs in to the paddocks and field via life raft or snow mobile dependant on the conditions but everything is fine with Mack and the rest of the gang up there and here's hoping for some better weather for them all.

We have recently been down to see Lance and the team at Iceman Kennels and again the weather seems to be having an effect there as well. Lance, like Dave up at Questhouse has great facilities though and I am sure that Lance and his team, along with his superb facilities will give our dogs every opportunity to succeed on the racetrack should they themselves be up to the task of winning races.

We are also getting plenty of interest in our up and coming syndicates and would strongly advise anyone who is interested in any of our future syndicates to register their interest as soon as possible to avoid disappointment once the syndicates are formed.

Jazz Hurricane has been scanned and Dave tells me she is now in pup to Westmead Hawk, so here's hoping for the opportunity to purchase more potential future champions.

Finally there are still a few shares available in Mack AKA 'Big Chief' so if you are interested please get in touch and we will be more than happy to discuss the various options we have for becoming involved with that particular syndicate.