Personality Profile - Keith Thornton

Dog-mad Keith Thornton on why trophies are better than sex….

"Dog mad", that's what my Mother used to say. From the age of four or five I was always bringing home a dog I had found on the street…. Whether it was lost or not! We lived by the gates of Belle Vue Zoo (all school holidays I could be found there), and the greyhound track was just around the corner. It was no surprise to my parents that when I left school that's where I wanted to work.

Brenda and Keith with world famous Orregano Tarragon of Karnak

By the age of 1 my Mum and Dad bought me a collie to show. Rex turned out to be a winner and we soon had five collies - all winners. Then Afghans came into our lives and the next 40 years saw my wife Brenda and I being top breeders. Our dogs won everything possible. We still have a few Afghans although the breeding has stopped due to Brenda's illness.

Anyway, my first day at Belle Vue Greyhound Track aged fifteen and I was assigned to a trainer called John O'Brien. The other staff always took the mickey out of newcomers, like "Go to the cookhouse and get a bucket of steam!".

John said: " I believe you breed dogs. Take this bitch to the straw shed and wait there."

Suddenly this man and woman came in and this massive male greyhound began to mate this bitch. I couldn't believe it - I have never been so embarrassed in my life. What a great start to my career but the next twelve years were the best years of my life. The knowledge I gained working with top trainers and top vets laid the foundations for the job I do now.

In worked for Len Hague and we had a Greyhound Derby finalist in 1955. There I was promoted to head lad. Over the next few years we had some smashing dogs. Not great race winners but a good few track records fell to our kennel. The greatest greyhound I ever saw when he kennelled with us at Belle Vue for the Manchester Puppy Cup was the great Pigalle Wonder. His trainer Jim Syder was a gentleman. I remember the day before the final his owner Al Burnett came to see him. He gave all us kennel staff £10 each. God we felt so rich!

When my of my bosses, Len Hague retired I worked for Percy Stagg. That was a good move. We won the 1964 Greyhound Derby with Hack Up Chieftain. That dog could only win a top grade at Belle Vue if he had trap one!

Keith judging afghan males, Crufts 1990 with best of breed

Things were changing at the GRA (Greyhound Racing Association) and four trainers were pensioned off at Belle Vue kennels which doubled with White City - another Manchester track now long gone. This left just four trainers to race at both tracks.

After my departure from the kennels a few owners asked me to train for them. Brenda andd I married in 1964. She worked for BillHolland at Belle Vue but raced at Wghite City. Luclily when we married we bough a house with aa large garden. We had a few kennels for the Afghans. More kennels went up and we had a number of greyhounds 'flapping'. We also bred a couple of litters and reared and schooled them ourselves. Things were going well and we had plenty of winners and some good gambles went our way. But like all self-employed people we suffered from bad payers. All owned dogs left our kennel and we just kept out own. Luckily Brenda's Dad worked for the Electric Board. One day he said: "There's a meter reading job going would you like it? Start at 8am rush around and be home for 1pm."

This was a job and a half with no working on Saturdays or Sundays. Mum and Dad would move in at the weekends and we were off showing the Afghans and also judging all breeds. It kept me busy and now I judge dogs all over the world. How lucky can you be?

We moved to a detached house on a golf course and the kennels were built before we moved in. Just one mile away from our new home there was a dig food company called Wafcol. I soon became a regular customer. If we had a good win on the track or in the show ring we could have our food for free for a bit of advertising. One day, at a Manchester Chamshow Mr Lockhart was on the Wafcol stand and said: " Keith, we are looking for a show manager to go around the 30-odd shows a year promoting Wafcol." Bye Bye 'Leccie Board!

The greyhound side of our hobby was soon on the way out. In between shows I would visit breeders, kennels and greyhound trainers. The latter group became big business and I concentrated on that side of the job. New greyhound foods were developed and everything was taking off.

In 1988 I bought two greyhounds for the company and placed them with my old mate Pat McCombe called Wafcol Racer and Wafcol Flyer. Racer was a fast dog and beat the Derby favourite in an Open at Hall Green. But tragedy struck and he went lame though was found an excellent home with an ex-kennel girl.

Most of work was focused on greyhound food and sponsorship race deals at the top tracks. Brenda and I also bought dogs for ourselves and bred a few - all placed with Pat. The excitement of your own dog winning is the best thrill you can experience and even more so when you've bred them yourself.

The last greyhound Wafcol owned was Wafcol Joe. She was A1 at Belle Vue and won lots of races. The company was taken over by three chaps about 12 months ago. Although they have put a lot off money into Wafcol greyhounds are not what they want at this time. But me and my wife are keen deep in dogs! Since my pal Pat's death two and a half years ago June his wife has taken over as trainer and we have had lots of success.

Owning greyhounds is a hobby first and foremost, very few people actually make money but the cost can be kept down by starting a syndicate which helps with the kennel fees. There are highs and lows. Injuries are always hard though welfare has never been as strong as it is today. There are homefinders in place now - don't forget these beautiful animals make superb pets too.

The thrill of being presented with a trophy is unbeatable. Some people say it is better than sex. I am not so sure about that although I have won quite a lot of trophies lately! Greyhounds are in the blood and there's no getting away from that.