‘Rapid Return': Carruthers Name Returns To The Fold

JOHN Carruthers admits he had to go looking for a can of linseed oil to wipe the mould from the collars and leads out in his Castlereagh kennels.

It was an urgent move because his great mate Paul Bartolo was sending home a bitch called Angel Glow (Fernando Bale-Being Good) and John and his wife Jane were about to be thrust back into training greyhounds once again.

“I can't remember when we last raced a dog – a few years at least,” John said on Friday.

On Thursday night at Dapto, Angel Glow thrust the Carruthers name back into the winner's circle when she led throughout to win a 600m Middle Distance series and land the purse of $5000.

She scored by almost four lengths as the $1.90 favourite beating Topper Phoenix.

The Carruthers name will always be in the history books of greyhound racing through the deeds of champion Rapid Journey.

John has since made yet another lasting imprint on the industry through his studmaster duties with their own dog Magic Sprite, but also legend Brett Lee.

John and Jane bred the litter that includes Angel Glow, the mother Being Good a Gosford track record breaker and a sister to Clockwise the Group winning bitch which became dam of Queensland greyhound of the year and multiple Group 1 winner Fast Times.

“I sent her down to Paul Bartolo who had sold me Magic Sprite as a pup,” John said.

“She won five of her first six starts but then started to find trouble in her races. She kept winning but was also getting into trouble and this was causing her problems.”

Bartolo suggested she come home and that's when the linseed oil came out to polish up the collars and leads at the Carruthers kennels.

“I got my great mate Cliff Bell to trial her for me and she went pretty good at Dapto,” John said. “Cliff was on hand to catch the bitch last night.”

Immediate plans are for Angel Glow to head to Richmond next Friday for another $5000 Middle Distance Series event.

“In the long run we will breed with her for certain,” he added. “I may send her back to Paul and Diane in Melbourne to do that for us.”

In the meantime, Angel Glow will continue to campaign over middle distances and continue to build on her reputation.

“We purposely kept her on the lead for six days going into last night's race because we wanted her to jump and it worked,” John added.