Up Hill Jill Pup Showing Enormous Potential

DAVID Geall is a Collingwood footy club fan and hopes the ability of star midfielder Jaidyn Stephenson can rub off on his greyhound racing kennel.

That's because Geall has a black and white Fernando Bale and Up Hill Jill pup just starting his early trialling after break-in and showing enormous potential.

“We've got 10 from the litter,” said Geall.

“One is still at break-in because maturity wise he was a bit behind the rest of them.

“But of the others, we have five which are running very fast in early trials.

“And Jaidyn is the quickest.

“We have given all nine of them a couple of box to box trials at Geelong on the inside track,” said Geall.

“Five are extremely fast, three are very good and one is pretty good.”

While that report could be conceived to be flattering from their breeder/owner/trainer, Geall is a tough critic who says there is a long, long way to go before any of the 10 offspring reach the heights of their parents.

Up Hill Jill raced 85 times for 38 wins and earned $882,000. She won a Topgun, Easter Egg, Laurels, Australian Sprint and was placed or a finalist at group level a remarkable 14 times.

All five of the “very fast” pups from the litter showed blistering early pace breaking 5.40 for their first section.

“The black and white dog we call Jaidyn is the fastest at this stage but he is not as mature at the same stage as a dog like My Redeemer (the half brother of Up Hill Jill),” said Geall.

“But, that is probably a good thing because Jaidyn can only improve greatly once he works it all out.”

The next move for the Up Hill Jill pups will be to head to 460m at Geelong or the 450m at Ballarat. Geall will probably split them into two groups.

“From those early trials, all nine we are trialling now will win races,” he said.

“But just how far further they go will depend on their improvement in the coming weeks and months.

“It's very exciting with all nine, but we are also very mindful of what can happen in racing.”

Geall has a six month old litter by Barcia Bale from Up Hill Jill.