When Tanyard Heather Won The Laurels

When Tanyard Heather won the Laurels to a huge ovation from the crowd His owner Pat Cashman from Millstreet had reason to feel proud When the son of Clonbanin Chariot raced into canine history And equalled the Cork track record in a marvellous victory. He left traps like a rocket and was first at every bend But the brindled Duhallow flying machine was not the bookies friend For he started as the favourite and the punters got it right And for his many connections 'twas a memorable night In the story of Tanyard Heather there is material for a song Bred by the Clonbanin breeder the likeable Con Long In mating his brood bitch Clonbanin Chariot to the speedy Oregon Prince He bred for dogs with early speed which made a lot of sense Heather was the small pup of his litter or so the story go But size doesn't guarantee success as greyhound People know The dog who leads to the first bend and sets the early pace Is the hardest dog of all to beat in a middle distance race. The small pup of the litter doesn't always remain the runt And Heather at the first bend was always lengths in front He finished third in the Derby final 'luck to him was unkind' He missed his break but still took the lead and was beaten from behind. In the mid sixties when Heather won the Laurels the school going boys back then Might now be young grand fathers and ageing balding men For time goes by so quickly those three decades seemed to fly And the balding man with silver hair was then a teenage boy. When Tanyard Heather won the Laurels the punters they did cheer But the bookies were not smiling his victory cost them dear And Pat Cashman felt so happy he laughed loud in delight In one of his finest moments if not his greatest night.