'Bootroom Boy', the greyhound that we purchased for fun as a young pup with the intentions of racing on behalf of the site and at the same time flying the flag for the Liverpool supporters who visit us, will this evening make his racing debut at Brough Park, England.
Whelped in July 2000, 'Bootroom Boy' (Kennel name 'Sam') comes from a very good breeding background (Top Honcho x Lemon Duchess).
We never knew if he would make the grade and it's been a long wait to see if he would ever make it to the track but thankfully tonight he'll making his racing debut (Have a look in today's Racing Post on page 58 for the race details).
He's only ever had trial races with one or two other dogs but tonight he'll be battling it out with five others. Because of his impressive time trials he'll start in an A5 graded race which is a tough start for a pup (grades go from A1 > A8 and the lower the number the better) but as long as he comes home safe we'll be happy. The first bend in greyhound racing is very dangerous with many dogs falling after taking a knock and it is not unusual for a greyhound to be seriously injured or even put down after leaving the race at this stage of a race if it goes 'pear-shaped'.
Sam was given his name by a Kop Talk reader following a competition that we ran on the site and he'll soon be the proud owner of a signed Robbie Fowler shirt.
Meanwhile 'Faster Than Owen' (previously known as 'Owens Girl' but forced to change name due to an administration cock-up) owned by 8-year-old Liverpool supporter Charlotte Owen, who'll be nine on 9th March, will be in action again this Saturday evening at Brough Park and we fancy her chances but the dog in trap 6 is a huge threat.
Kop Talk is of course dedicated to football and of course Liverpool but our adventure into greyhound racing is purely for fun and following the feedback we've had from visitors, there are a lot of people out there who are following these two dogs because of their Liverpool connections!