Breeding Lines: Always On Air

Some of the greatest greyhound breeders will be the first to admit there is no magic recipe for success, and many, including the great Nick Savva, will recall elements of chance and a large chunk of good fortune when producing top-class dogs.

However, one bloodline that has consistently produced brilliant performers comes from the Minnies Nikita dam-line, something we couldn’t contemplate covering in an article this size and, on this occasion we look at the legacy left by one of her granddaughters, in the shape of Always on Air.

Sired by the remarkable Staplers Jo, her dam Live Commentary was unraced but with plenty to recommend her in the paddocks, herself a half-sister to the top-class Spiral Nikita.

Always On Air was a success on the track in her own right, winning thirteen times in a career that spanned the best part of two-and-a-half years, the majority of those victories coming around the tough Thurles Park circuit.

Trained by well-renowned breeder Liam Dwan, her career ended just shy of her fourth birthday. An obvious candidate for the breeding paddocks, her maiden litter by Smooth Rumble produced fairly useful sorts on the track, as did her second by Come on Lleyton, yet it would be her mating’s to Pacific Mile that would announce her as one of the leading brood bitches of her generation.

Pacific Mile had his career cut short through injury but was already responsible for classy trackers, including the immortal Roxholme Girl. The cross was an instant success, Barnfield on Air a winner of the Sussex Cup and Select Stakes, whilst boasting the enviable title of four independent track records, including an only recently equalled 27.20 for Belle Vue’s 4-bend trip.

Wimbledon was never truly his track but he still managed to make the semi-final of the Derby at the Plough Lane circuit in May 2008 and infertility problems robbed him of the chance to pass on his inherent potent speed. Unsurprisingly, connections opted to return to Pacific Mile for a repeat mating on the back of another cracking litter by Hondo Black and their August 06’ litter was again a recipe for roaring success, this time producing the striking white and blue dog Boherna Best.

A tremendous greyhound, he was expertly campaigned by Sheffield trainer Barrie Draper. He was a multiple Group 1 finalist, landing back-to-back All England Cups at Newcastle as well as the Laurels at Belle Vue, and Monmore Gold Cup, but sadly was another who failed to see any of his own pups hit the track. However, that was not to be the limit of Always On Air’s top class producing, and her January 2008 litter to Australian sire Elite State resulted in the aptly-named Borna Talent, who reached two Group 2 finals in her native Ireland.

Her final litter back in 2009 resulted in just one pup and proved to be the last for the 1998 whelp, with her sons subsequently unable to continue the famed line. However, a host of her daughters and granddaughters have proved more than capable of keeping her legacy alive, her Smooth Rumble daughter Free To Air (2002) responsible for UK Greyhound of the Year Lenson Joker, Easter Cup winner and Irish Derby finalist Thurlesbeg Joker and Steel City Cup winner Boherna on Air, while Magna Buddy, Burgess Borna and Boherna House (now a sire) are just a trio of other names to have made the big stage in recent years.

Always On Air’s granddaughters United Air and Live Queen have similarly produced quality offspring, the former responsible for multiple winner and English Oaks finalist Thurlesbeg Bound, whilst the latter has produced 20 pups to date, 40% of them having run in feature events, chief amongst them, the prolific staying star Droopys Live.

Not only an emphasis for speed but also stamina, in producing high-class and track record holding performers over various distances, Always On Air’s legacy is firmly established, and the production of top–class hounds is likely to remain a feature from this acclaimed line for many years to come.