Sky’s the limit with pups right on track

Sallis has seen Skyfall Ginger make it to the top grade at the Wolverhampton track at just 18 months old, with her siblings also impressing as of late.

Ginger finished fourth in her first A1 race on Tuesday afternoon before sister Skyfall Vega blitzed the competition in an A5.

“Ginger’s different from the rest of the litter in that she’s the one with the early pace,” said Sallis.

“She was able to lead races in the lower grades where the others may have missed their breaks and had some traffic to fight through.

“Skyfall Vega stole her fire a little bit this week as she won by seven lengths in an A5 on Tuesday, doing the fastest time of the day.

“They look a very nice litter. Ginger’s the one who’ll probably go for Opens over a slightly smaller trip – the 400m at Romford or the 450m at Towcester.

“She’s done ever so well to get up to A1 at Monmore, especially when she doesn’t quite get home with the distance being just slightly long for her.”

Sallis’ partner and assistant trainer Esther Driver has a successful history in breeding litters, having two produce winners in Go Go Sonic and Bomber Blue.

From this litter, Ginger and Vega are seemingly set for the Open-race circuit and British-bred competitions.

Lower down the grades, Skyfall Jeremy, Skyfall Japan and Skyfall Effy are heading in the right direction while Skyfall Sirius is currently nursing an injury having shown signs of promise.

“Esther has always bred greyhounds, but this is the first litter we’ve done for a while as we lost half the land at our kennels due to the owner selling, so we put it on the backburner for a while,” added Sallis.

“She’s got history in breeding with successful litters, and after this litter, we’ll probably do it again.

“It’s lovely when you’re there from when they’re born, to when they’re on the podium having won big races. It doesn’t get a lot better.

“It’s a lot of hard work over the 16 months, getting them ready to race, so it’s very rewarding when they turn out well. Jeremy is the slowest of the litter but he’s ready to win an A9, after winning an A10.

“Skyfall Sirius was up to around A4 and leading by about seven lengths in a race but broke down and we’re treating that currently.

“Skyfall Japan, in one of her races, gave the rest a six-length start and managed to win by about five lengths, so she’s going the right way.

“Skyfall Effy was impressive in her win but she’s still a bit green with her trapping. They’re learning as they go, and they’ve all won a race, so we’re really pleased.”

Sallis will be hoping for a couple of winners at Monmore tonight. Another one of his top-class graded runners, Roxhill Melita runs from trap one in race eight.

Solid performer Red Jellybean, who has 11 career wins from 57 runs, is out in race nine.