Jim's review of 2016!
Jan 2, 2017 23:07:02 GMT 1
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Post by mezza1987 on Jan 2, 2017 23:07:02 GMT 1
Having started out as a kennel hand back in 1986 working 100 hours a week for £100 - you always dream of one day becoming a trainer in your own right and making a living from it.
It took me until the early 2000's to make that break through and hold a trainers brief in my own name. That was a lot of hard hours for next to nothing.
But if I thought the first 15 years or so were hard the next 15 years, at times, were even harder.
Making it pay as a trainer on the provincial tracks with very few owners about, lower prize money and until recent years, no contract fee sometimes seems like an uphill battle!
We've been luckier than most trainers. We've had family and friends support us financially when times were very hard. Without that we'd have packed up a long time ago.
Add the financial struggle to Kennels we were renting that were well below the standard I'd consider acceptable and you wake up every morning asking yourself - is this the dream you where really chasing?
We won the 2008 Wimbledon puppy Derby final with Jesters Nap and that win alone (33/1 antipost) ensured we stayed in business for the next 2 years.
2010 was a turning point. A flash of inspiration born out of the countries economy crash and a lack of owners in the kennel - we set up a syndicate group JDR, Jim Daly Racing syndicate arrived.
The syndicate lifted us almost instantly with open class greyhounds like Longford Meg, Droopys Djokovic, Farloe Bowser, Fire Food Chili and Droopys Hector to name just some.
The dream was looking better although the kennels we were at were not long term and we still needed the security of a major contact. At this point we had reservations about surviving long term.
Then another huge slice of luck came our way, a few years back Steve Morison and Grant Holt purchased the very kennels I'd been trying to rent for a while and we moved into Kelva Kennels. A set up to be proud of and a foundation to move forward.
2016 will be remembered as my most successful year. Gaining a major contract at Crayford after 30 years service to the industry.
Some people will look at the financial rewards we are now getting differently to others, especially with our JDR kennel fee situation. Rest assured we value you, our JDR syndicate members highly. Along with the new racing club members, further down the line we will filter some of the profits back to this group, so you continue to enjoy your racing with us.
From all of us at Kelva Kennels we wish you a happy and healthy 2017.
Jim Daly
It took me until the early 2000's to make that break through and hold a trainers brief in my own name. That was a lot of hard hours for next to nothing.
But if I thought the first 15 years or so were hard the next 15 years, at times, were even harder.
Making it pay as a trainer on the provincial tracks with very few owners about, lower prize money and until recent years, no contract fee sometimes seems like an uphill battle!
We've been luckier than most trainers. We've had family and friends support us financially when times were very hard. Without that we'd have packed up a long time ago.
Add the financial struggle to Kennels we were renting that were well below the standard I'd consider acceptable and you wake up every morning asking yourself - is this the dream you where really chasing?
We won the 2008 Wimbledon puppy Derby final with Jesters Nap and that win alone (33/1 antipost) ensured we stayed in business for the next 2 years.
2010 was a turning point. A flash of inspiration born out of the countries economy crash and a lack of owners in the kennel - we set up a syndicate group JDR, Jim Daly Racing syndicate arrived.
The syndicate lifted us almost instantly with open class greyhounds like Longford Meg, Droopys Djokovic, Farloe Bowser, Fire Food Chili and Droopys Hector to name just some.
The dream was looking better although the kennels we were at were not long term and we still needed the security of a major contact. At this point we had reservations about surviving long term.
Then another huge slice of luck came our way, a few years back Steve Morison and Grant Holt purchased the very kennels I'd been trying to rent for a while and we moved into Kelva Kennels. A set up to be proud of and a foundation to move forward.
2016 will be remembered as my most successful year. Gaining a major contract at Crayford after 30 years service to the industry.
Some people will look at the financial rewards we are now getting differently to others, especially with our JDR kennel fee situation. Rest assured we value you, our JDR syndicate members highly. Along with the new racing club members, further down the line we will filter some of the profits back to this group, so you continue to enjoy your racing with us.
From all of us at Kelva Kennels we wish you a happy and healthy 2017.
Jim Daly