Meet Lucy (Leumeah Miss) - "Simply Grey" greyhound

By Fatima |

Thursday, April 29, 2010

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A very special greyhound has just arrived to GAP Kennels in Sanson and is up for adoption: Lucy (Leumeah Miss), who has recently retired (after having a very succesful racing career with Canterbury trainer John McInerney). She is a gorgeous blue fawn girl, with the cutest smile :)

But that is not all!

Lucy is also the dog on the rails (far right) on this Simply Grey (www.simplygrey.co.nz) image:


Cate Marshall, greyhound handler and photographer responsible for this and other gorgeous Simply Grey images of greyhounds, recognized Lucy while handling her on the track , and has just written a diary of the "Dog on the Rails" for my blog! (Thanks a million Cate! BTW- I have writen about Cate and her own hounds before, in one of my previous posts here)

Cate says:

It started as a typical Tuesday in Christchurch...a kiss for Joe, Grace & Flynn and off to Addington for a day of racing. With 20 races ahead of me, I knew it would be a busy one - just the way I like it. Minutes before race 20, feeling exhausted, hungry and covered in mud, I agreed to help out a trainer and handle one of their dogs. She was small, but strong with a quiet confidence. I collected her from the race kennels and as I put her race cover on she gave me a smile which was infectious and something felt, well strange -I couldnt put my finger on it. So off we went - out to the track, into the boxes and away she went. A winner!!! What a great way to finish my day of racing.

It was some weeks later when her trainer asked me again to handle her as she "seemed to run well for me". Of course I agreed and a funny thing happened...we all realised that this little dog was in fact the "dog on the rails" in the Simply Grey image ‘Track to Sofa’! Meet Leumeah Miss (Lucy). I had goosebumps on my goosebumps. What are the chances of Lucy and I meeting on the track?

I was thrilled when her trainer and owners agreed to put her on the GAP list and this past week Lucy officially retired from racing. I brought Lucy home to the "Know More Kennels" to meet Joe, Grace and Flynn and the fun began. Lucy learnt that the pots and pans cupboards are for climbing into, that licking that stuff called "soap" in the bathroom is NOT nice and the sole purpose of fences are for sideways trampolining. I stood back one afternoon and watched four dogs make the most amazing race track through my house, into the kitchen, through the shed and back into the house.

Below: Lucy with Flynn, Joe and Grace



Last week I got a call from Sonja and Irene at GAP that there was a space available for Lucy and with a tear in my eye (yes, I could have quite happily kept this wonderful girl), Lucy set sail on the ferry to meet Fatima in Wellington. After a great breakfast and a comfy ride with Fatima, Lucy met Sonja and Irene at the GAP kennels.
Today, Lucy has passed her temperament testing and is now available for adoption. She is happy as ever and running round the kennels and enjoying the start of her retirement.

I feel very honoured to have met Lucy and to have handled her in her last win of her career. Simply Grey wishes Lucy all the very best in her new home and thanks everyone who has been involved with her adventures (so far!).

Cate and her three greyhounds :-)

By Fatima |

Sunday, April 25, 2010

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Above: Family portrait, clockwise from the bottom left: Flynn (Crafty Flynn), Grace (Two Clouds), Joe (Light Pockets) and Cate in her rabbit suit!

Cate Marshall is best known to all of us for her gorgeous images taken for Simply Grey (www.simplygrey.co.nz).
Cate is a greyhound lover extraodinaire, and also a dog handler for Gary Cleeve and Gaylene Turnwald's greyhound racing team in Canterbury.

Yesterday was a very special day for both me and Cate: both Louie and Lucy have passed their Canine Good Citizens Assesment Exam (a BIG blog post about that coming up soon!) and Cate celebrated that it had been 2 years that she adopted her first greyhound, Grace (Two Clouds). :-)
So I thought today would be a good day for Cate to write the story for my blog. Thank you Cate for the writeup and gorgeous images!

Cate says:
The kennel managers said she was "quirky" and "needs an owner with a sense of humour". Her foster carer said "she can tend to be a bit naughty" and "she really is lovely". I said, PERFECT!! Two years oday this naughty, quirky, gorgeous and lovely greyhound called Grace (Two Clouds) walked into my life and thus started my love affair with greyhounds.

Below: Grace relaxing :-)

Portrait of Princess Grace:

A few months after Grace arrived, my home saw the arrival of a "foster" dog called Joe (Light Pockets). HA - Hilarious...me? A foster carer? They saw me coming. Needless to say this stunning, cheeky and slightly dorky boy did not stay a "foster" dog for long. Joe walked into my home, declared his bed, declared his bowl and declared me "his" person. He stayed, I was smitten.

Below: Joe having his Christmas ice-cream! BTW- Joe is Louie's half-brother (they have the same father). Explains the obsession with food!

In the following months I met Grace and Joe's former trainers and owners at a GAP event. Today, we are all very good friends and see each other on a regular basis. I now leave my hounds at home one day a week and head off the race track to work on Gary Cleeve and Gaylene Turnwald's racing team.

And this is where I met Flynn (Crafty Flynn). :-)

Having worked with him on the racing team and been the recipient of many many cuddles at the track I decided to "foster" Flynn when he retired. Yes, there is that "foster" word again! My big baby with the "i love you" eyes saw me become the worlds worst foster carer. He stayed, I was smitten.

Below: Handsome Flynn :-)

With three greyhounds, I felt it prudent to have a kennel name and thus the "Know More Kennels" was born. Complete with sign on gate! Two years down the track (no pun intended) here I sit with 3 greyhounds happily snoozing at my feet in my photography studio. The Simply Grey Project dream is now a reality and my life, everyday, is about greyhounds...and I wouldnt have it any other way.

The Simply Grey Project - www.simplygrey.co.nz

By Fatima |

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

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On 1st January 2009, over a few glasses of orange juice (or so the story goes), Simply Grey (www.simplygrey.co.nz) was born. Cate Marshall (Photographer / GAP Southern Regional Coordinator) and Sonja Bright (GAP Kennel Manager) had a vision to celebrate the greyhound through photography. Within a matter of weeks a website was built, a bank account opened and a Gallery booked for the first exhibition. There was one small hitch – no funding to get the project off the ground and images on the wall! Being two determined women with a like-minded passion for greyhounds and naturally, photography, Cate and Sonja were determined to make the dream a reality.

Cate is a familiar face on the Addington race track (photographer, dog handler for trainer Gary Cleeve and GAP spokesperson) so the team (Cate and Sonja that is) approached Club Secretary Tony Music of the Christchurch Greyhound Racing Club unsure of what his reaction would be to an artistic project about greyhounds. Quite simply, he loved it! Sonja – Festival Producer and Event Manager in years gone by - dusted off the cobwebs and drew up a sponsorship proposal: the club accepted it, presented Cate with a cheque at the Auckland Cup (Cate was there with her GAP hat on) and the Christchurch exhibition was a reality. A similar proposal went to NZ Greyhound Racing which was accepted and funding given for a series of exhibitions around the country. Finally, Kirsten Wylie of Total Veterinary Services came on board as a sponsor and Cate started creating work in a 3 day shoot in her home studio with a small group of eager models, and trackside at trials and race meetings.

Above: Cate at work

The stunning exhibition at the Christchurch Arts Centre attracted an audience of over 600 including trainers and racing owners (many with a tear in their eye), GAP owners, dog lovers, photographers and other artists, regular Arts Centre visitors and the general public, many of whom had seen Cate on Canterbury TV with Grace draped over her lap. Simply Grey is an avid supporter of GAP and close to $1,000 has been raised thus far through donations, a national raffle and merchandise sales.
The dust hadn’t settled post-exhibition and Sonja had a photo shoot organised for Cate in Palmerston North (thanks to GAP owner Kevin Darling of Gribbles Veterinary, who provided an empty warehouse big enough to drive a Mini in. But that’s another story...), an idea for a 2010 Calendar and exhibitions for Palmerston North and Wellington. A staggering amount of work was created at the recent shoot where the team were driven by a tight schedule on a miniscule budget and too much caffeine. Just as Cate was about to head home to Christchurch to start editing, Ashoka Pandey of the Manawatu Racing Club got wind of the project, invited Cate and Sonja along to the track for coffee and a sandwich and promptly named a race The Simply Grey Project Middle Distance at a recent meeting!
Eight months on and Simply Grey is much more than just a dream. It is a living, breathing celebration of greyhounds: as athletes and retired athletes; as loyal racing dogs and loving companions. And it’s coming your way... In the meantime, there are some amazing shots at the website: http://www.simplygrey.co.nz/

The 2010 SimplyGrey calendar is about to be printed and you can order it via GAP.
Simply Grey donates a minimum of 10% of proceeds to GAP (15% from calendar sales) - so order yours now!

For further information or higher resolution images please contact
Sonja Bright, Project Manager, Simply Grey
(027) 266 2406 or sonja.b@inspire.net.nz

Left:

Orphan Assassin and Two Clouds