London Calling For Kenny In Cup Decider

IT'S not often the roar from winning owners can be heard from 10,000 miles away, but that is exactly what to expect should Kenny The Brute salute in the RSN Sandown Cup.

Owned in part by a syndicate of English greyhound racing enthusiasts, Kenny The Brute powered into Thursday night's $250,000 final with an impressive victory in his heat.

It was an impressive performance by the greyhound on his debut over the distance, and a proud moment for his owners who first took interest in Australian greyhound racing just 12 months ago.

"We had a lockdown in the United Kingdom with COVID virus and there was no greyhound racing going on," syndicate manager Andy Pelly told RSN Central with Gareth Hall.

"A group of us were watching more and more Australian greyhound races and thoroughly enjoyed it.

"A friend of ours, David Mitchell from the Blue Tick Syndicate, had dogs already racing in Australia with Kel and Jackie (Greenough).

“We spoke to Dave about how we might be able get involved, and he introduced us to Kel. From there Kel said that if any dogs became available that might be suitable for our group he'd let us know.

"Kenny The Brute became available and they offered us Kenny and the rest is history."

Pelley has been involved in English racing for around 30 years, at first for the social element of being at the track, then for the love of the animal itself.

He has raced a number of quality greyhounds across the United Kingdom, but admitted the prospect of competing in Australia's premier races was something he couldn't wait to be a part of.

"It's another level of quality to some of the experiences that we would have in the UK – the quality of the tracks, the excitement of the 8 dog fields.

"At the time we had no dog racing we were looking at the competitions (in Australia), looking at the prize money, the build-up, the social media presence – everything you did looked so impressive and we just wanted to get involved."

Pelley said that the current travel restrictions is all that has prevented him and others within the syndicate from travelling to see Kenny The Brute race in person. For now at least, he and and a large group of supporters will be cheering on Kenny through the TV.

"It'll be about 11.30am over here and we're all at work and have different jobs.

"I have an office of 30 people and we've got TV screens up and we'll all be watching it and cheering him on."