The 78th 2-Year-Old British Bred Produce Stakes gets underway at Swindon on Thursday night with 43 greyhounds entered in the first round draw. 16 trainers, attached to tracks the length of the country, will travel to Wiltshire this week, no doubt hoping to emulate the 2023 winner, Queen Joni trained by Liz McNair, by winning the £10,000 prize.
Among the trainers hoping his strength will go well is Phil Milner who brings four greyhounds to the 2024 event. Milner highlighted the need to celebrate some fantastic breeders and thanked Swindon for making the entry procedure much easier this year.
“As a British breeder, after the Derby, the chance to take on the best British Breds of that year is fantastic and a competition with the prestige of The Produce would be fantastic to win. To have 4 out of the 2 litters we bred in 2022 is great.
“I know that none of Rab’s are here this year but some fantastic breeders are represented and they need celebrating. The costs and logistics of breeding has made it more challenging recently, from transport to studs, rising costs of feed, bedding, wet fees, wormers and electricity for heat lamps – all costs are rising sharply. We’re trying to breed a perfect 4 bend dog with great temperament, chase desire, longevity, great early, and strength over 4 bends…it’s not easy!
“We need these big nights to aim for to make sure that we keep the top breeder/rearers. The likes of Kevin Hutton, Clare Conlon, Glenn Lynas, Dave Firmager, and many more – we simply cannot afford to lose them amongst the breeding ranks.
“Thank you to Swindon for staging the competition and also for listening to concerns about the entry procedure. This year, the process has been much easier. Good luck to all. It looks a great competition.”
Discussing the chances of his Keefill prefix strength, Milner said “We are happy with Rocky’s draw in Heat 6. He seems to have lost a touch of early and will need that back to clear the bend, but we were very happy with his trial.
“Goose has a good enough draw (3) in Heat 5 but he’s just not been himself and we can’t figure it out. He’s bouncing at home and galloping well but off in his coat a bit. He’s lost his spark on track. We’ve ran bloods and done a bit with him so fingers crossed. He didn’t run the track brilliant first time so hopefully there’s some improvement there too.
“Dares (Heat 8) has plenty more to come. She’s in hard and if she has a dog on her inside she runs wide and loses lots. But she’s very pacey and has great early so hopefully she will get a run. It’s a shame she has been drawn against her brother (Maverick) as he’s running really well. Maverick trialled well and seemed to run off the last bend so maybe a bit more to come. I just hope he traps and gets a clear run.”
First Round Draw and Form Guides
History of the British Bred Produce Stakes
The Produce was inaugurated in 1946 at Eastville Stadium in Bristol when it was known as the Western Two-Year Old Stakes. The following year it was renamed the Western Two-Year Old Produce Stakes in order to distinguish the event as a produce event (restricted to puppies from specifically Wales and the West).
The competition was later extended to all regions but remained a puppy event. Following the closure of Bristol in 1997 it switched to sister track Swindon and was run over 480m. The event today is open to British Bred greyhounds only. After 2019 the competition remained at Swindon on the revamped 476m Swindon circuit.
Interestingly, only 1 greyhound has gone on to win both ‘The Produce’ and The English Derby. That was Narrogar Ann in 1948 and 1949 respectively. Narrogar Ann, then trained by Joe Farrand (Oxford), won the Western Two-Year Old Produce Stakes at Bristol over approx. 404m going off as even money favourite. The following year, after being moved to Leslie Reynolds (Wembley) she won the Derby over 525y (approx 480m) at White City, despite a starting price of 5-1.
