Weekends are an exhausting time for the trainers and kennel workers at Raynham as the track offers two racing sessions (cards) on Friday and Saturday evenings in addition to the normal afternoon racing. The schedule for the dogs changes little except for those who will race in the evenings. Evening racers are benched in the morning and are fed a “meatball”- a 1/4 ration of their daily food to tide them over until after racing that night. Weigh-in for the evening dogs begins at 6:30pm and racing starts at 7:30pm, often lasting till 11:00pm. The workers put in 18 hour days (at least!) on Fridays and Saturdays, and by Sunday everyone is dragging- but still wearily smiling. Henry finds a table in front of the simulcast monitors, watches his racers, and tries valiantly not to nod off. He never gives in to it as he frequently runs to the cool-down room in the paddock to see how his dogs are feeling before Katie takes them back to the kennel for a rest.
The weekend was the hardest part of Kennel Week for me- by Saturday afternoon my head was swimming and by Sunday I had seemingly forgotten most of the English language… There are not enough words to describe my respect for the people that do this work week in and week out. The job is six to seven days a week and 16-18 hours a day of physical labor on one’s feet; you must truly love the dogs and be dedicated to the work to endure. The people from all the kennels at Raynham are a very special group. Most could be working an easier job somewhere else but all have chosen to work hard for the dogs that they love and believe in. You are all amazing.
Tags: greyhound racing, greyhounds
