George seeking consolation for tough year

TRAINER, George Gallery has been in the coursing game long enough to expect the unexpected. His mindset is conditioned by the unpredictable nature of the sport.
Good days tend to come and go at a much quicker rate than the tough-luck stories. But as George explains, “That’s coursing for you. You just have to keep at it because you never know when you’re luck will change.”
Of all people, George could do with a change of luck.
This year, by his own admission, he had a lot of promising pups. The season was filled with great expectations. But then, it all went horribly wrong. His Rockmount kennels were hit with a debilitating virus and much of his time was spent nursing rather than training greyhounds.
“I’ve had an awful time of it this year. We got a virus in the kennels and it set everything back. It was so frustrating because when I should have been on the road with runners, I was at home nursing them. It has been a tough year. Hopefully, we are over the worst of it,” he enthuses.
With the coursing season being so short, the danger was in rushing dogs back when not fully fit. But George was prepared to play the waiting game.
“We had to be very patient and just see things through. As a result, we didn’t get much running out of the dogs. Any time we increased their training, the virus struck. Dogs we’d have entered in meetings would have to be pulled out. We’d have to hold them up again. It just seemed to be never ending.
“It has been so frustrating, so disappointing because I think a lot of the dogs we had for coursing this year. What we have are good,” he maintains.
However, some light did emerge for George in early December. His got Colossal Impact (Kyle James – Cillowen Gra) turned out in time to take his chances in the reserve trial stake at his local Ennis-Clarecastle meeting at Manus. The dog did the business.
The dog runs under the banner of the Colossal Syndicate, comprising George’s sister, Patricia Ryan; her daughter, Leona; Leona’s boyfriend, Niall Warren from Kilmaley and his father, Thomas.
“I think that was the time I felt we might be out of the woods as regards the sickness in the kennels,” he explains.
“Colossal Impact was still on medication but he still ran well. He surprised me because I thought the antibiotics might weaken him a bit and that it could come against him after a few runs up the field.
“I think his performances that weekend were a good sign of his ability because he wasn’t entirely over his sickness. He ran well in the circumstances,” George concedes.
For good measure, a litter sister, Uptown Bliss, owned in Kilmallock by John and Ashling Browne, was an impressive winner of the Oaks Trial Stake, as if to reinforce George’s belief on the potential of his breeding.
Since then, George has been making up on lost time, turning out runners when they come to hand.
Colossal Impact reappeared at the Millstreet meeting in early January hoping to stamp his classic ticket for Clonmel by winning a full trial stake but was eliminated in the third round. Despite his exit, George wasn’t too despondent.
“The two dogs he beat on opening day had run up for trial stakes already –  Aquino at Tradaree and Wegoforone at Lixnaw. He beat both two to three lengths so that was encouraging.
“In the third round, he came out in front from slips but missed his hare. By the time he sighted and got back on line it was too late. Despite that, I was happy enough coming away from Millstreet,” he said.
Colossal Impact is currently sixth reserve for the Derby and barring a miracle will hardly get a late call up. George doesn’t expect to.
“We brought him back into training three weeks ago. If he doesn’t get into the Derby what about it, he’ll get a run in the consolation stake. The way I look at it, isn’t it great to have a runner in Clonmel no matter the stake.
“He hasn’t a whole lot of running done so he’s fresh. The field will suit him. He is a good dog to line up his hare. He has done everything right since I started working him back, so hopefully.”
Fingers crossed, that’s the way it will be with George.