Swift Silly’s dominant run in the PGR All England Final at Newcastle on Thursday presented trainer Raymond Hale with his first Category 1 winner. Hale, a part-time trainer with a kennel of just 14 greyhounds, described the win as ‘unbelievable.’
Swift Silly justified favouritism to scoop the £20,000 Premier Greyhound Racing All England Cup Grand Final at a busy Newcastle Stadium on Thursday evening.
The two-year-old beige and brindle bitch never saw a rival to land part-time trainer Raymond Hale his first Category One prize – the highest grade of UK greyhound racing – following a lifetime of involvement in racing. Arena Racing Company Classic champion Jonny Whiskers finished second while Jill Sutherst’s Witton Venus was third. Antigua Eclipse, Pape Di Oro and Bogger Rambo filled the minor placings.
A binman by trade, Raymond operates his kennels with the support of son Michael, partner Lisa plus owners Michael Thompson and John Burton.
The success has propelled the Hale kennel onto greyhound racing’s national stage with Swift Silly’s record now standing at 11 wins from 17 runs. And, this was her second Category 1 final of the year. In March, she finished runner-up to Brookside Richie in the Northern Flat, again at Newcastle.
Thursday’s win marked her 4th in succession over 480m after going unbeaten throughout the competition.
Disappointment followed when she was eliminated from the ARC Classic in Round 1. Lots were drawn after she had been leading a voided race and unfortunately she missed out on a place in the semi-final.
Reacting to Thursday’s win, Raymond said: “It’s unbelievable – I’ve never experienced anything like this in my life.
“Greyhound racing is a real team effort, and this result is a huge reward for the family and all their hard work over the years.
“My son (Michael) grew up around greyhounds, we used to carry him around the tracks as a baby and I know this win means so much to him. Eight years ago, I would’ve never predicted we’d even have runners at Newcastle, let alone winners.
“Now we’re Category One champions!”
Swift Silly wasn’t the only reason the Hale family journeyed home with their tails up.
Earlier on the card, Swift Josh landed the Arena Racing Company Puppy Final with a two-and-one-quarter length success over Tom Heilbron’s Innfield Rex.
There were triumphs also for Highview Sean, Wraysbury Diva and Lightfoot Clark who took the other Category Three sprint, standard and stayers competitions sponsored by Arena Racing Company respectively.
Greyhound racing returns to Newcastle Stadium this afternoon with 12-race card starting at 2.04pm. The final fixture of 2023 takes place on Saturday afternoon with racing starting at 2.04pm.
