Grouchos Theo top lot at record Greyhound Trader Donny sale
THE latest Greyhound Trader sale at Doncaster on Friday proved to be a huge success, with the crowd creating a fantastic atmosphere and helping to generate strong bidding throughout the day.
Despite an array of withdrawals and several late reserves coming into the sale due to transportation issues, there was certainly no shortage of quality on display.
A number of greyhounds went faster than last year's quickest time of 28.23sec (for 450m) recorded by the now open-race winner Ruinthelonggame.
Fastest of the day, and quite convincingly so, was Grouchos Theo, who recorded a phenomenal 27.50sec over the 450m distance.
Trapping well and quickly extending his advantage, he ran out a near 18 lengths winner before being purchased for £12,800 by Stephen Harvey. He will now join the kennels of Gary Griffiths.
A December 2024 son of Grouchos Duke and Kitmins Betty, Grouchos Theo looks an exciting prospect. With the newly announced £10,000 Doncaster Puppy Derby on the horizon, a tilt at that competition could well be first on the agenda for the promising youngster.
Droopys Erlybird was another greyhound to fetch a five-figure sum, selling for £12,600 to online bidder Eric Cantillon.
The April 2025 son of Pestana and Droopys Alyssa was another comfortable trial winner, scoring by 13½ lengths in a fast 27.79sec.
The young tracker has since been entrusted to Patrick Janssens for what will hopefully be an exciting career ahead.
Another strong purchase was Epic Molly, who sold for £8,000 following a fine 28.12sec trial victory.
From a dam line that includes Salacres Pippy and Lennies Desire, the April 2025 whelp could prove to be one to watch over further in the future for new handler Richie Taberner.
While Grouchos Theo topped the sale, his brothers also caught the eye with some impressive performances at Doncaster.
Grouchos Simon clocked 27.77sec and, despite not being sold on the bench, a subsequent deal was struck at £7,300 by Julie Coney, who will send him into training with Maxine Locke.
The third brother, Grouchos Alvin, trialled earlier in the day on what was perhaps a slightly slower track.
His 28.15sec was still enough to impress Lee Wragg, who purchased him for £5,400 for Kim Billingham-Hine.
Sean Parker added two more promising youngsters to his rising team in the shape of Four Stout (£7,100) and Droopys Handy (£5,100).
Recording times of 27.79sec and 28.42sec respectively, the two 2025 whelps look to be nice purchases for a syndicate that includes John Stubbings, who purchased recent Hove Regency winner Droopys Flare at this same sale two years ago.
Other notable purchases included Mustang Mitoma, who sold for £6,000 off the bench to Marcus Reeder and will join Frank Gray's kennels following his 30.06sec trial over 483m.
Meanwhile, Ballyhimikin Aki sold for £5,300 in the room at Doncaster after his 27.92sec trial victory.
It was Cristopher Simcock who stepped in to secure the son of Signet Ace, who will now join Sam Lapidge's team.
In total, 43 of the 45 greyhounds presented on the bench were sold, representing an impressive success rate of 96%.
Sales prices totalled £136,200 — a best-ever figure for Greyhound Trader outside of the pre-Derby sales events.
The total eclipsed the previous record of £133,550, set at Monmore in 2024, and underlined what was another hugely successful day for Greyhound Trader.
Jonathan Kay
