Meet a true top athlete: Les (Les Baxter)

By Fatima |

Monday, April 9, 2012

When I heard that amazing racer Les Baxter arrived to GAP - I was there at the kennels in a flash, I could not wait to meet him!
I love all greyhounds, but top racing doggies are my love and my passion. I love their temperament and their demeanor - they are extra special dogs and a joy to adopt.

Smiling Les :)

Les is a happy, waggy, gentlest cuddle monster, very affectionate big red and white doggie (he raced at 33kg).
He was having a great time running around and getting cuddles while I took these pictures. He is amazing with all dogs , and has had a great time making friends with boarding dogs of all breeds and sizes.

Making friends :) (you can click on pictures to see full size)

Les is also very very handsome, with lovely markings and gorgeous smile :)

Les was trained by South Island trainer John McInerney, and during his very successful career, he had 166 starts, with 25 wins and 67 placings! Impressive or what?! You can see his racing history here:
http://www.thedogs.co.nz/greyhounds/profiles.aspx?AnimalID=9834

Les's trainer emailed me with some very interesting facts from Les's career :
Les had his first race on 9 September 2008, for a 7th placing. But this did not deter big Les! Throughout his career he raced a massive 166 times at different tracks all over the country, from Manukau in Auckland, to the Southland track in Invercargill. All of those race starts resulted in 25wins, 40 seconds and 27 thirds, and over $57,000 in stakes earnings! He was a true professional.

 Les LOVED going to the races, he was so bouncy and full of himself that in some cases he was almost impossible to hold onto! He had his own special space at the front of the dog bus, I could always see his smiling face in the mirror looking at me as if to say "Are we there yet?!?"
Les's favourite race-day handler was Mick, he always put his best paw forward when Mick was at the races. Quite often he could be seen standing up on his back legs and waving his front legs around as if he was boxing with Mick, waiting for the walk to the boxes (or in Les's case, bounding!) :)
Right until the end of his career, Les raced in the top grade as a sprinter. His first ever win was on 30 September 2008, and his last win was 20 November 2011.  His last race was 10 January 2012, when he was retired due to age.
During his long career Les raced in 13 individual feature heats, as well as competing in 5 feature finals.
He was everyone's favourite at home and was a popular boy at the races, with the kennel staff greeting him each week with a big pat.
I doubt there are many dogs around who are a tough as Les, he was one in a million racer, and he will be one in a million pet :)
I have just done some research into Les's bloodline - he is beautifully bred, his  Dad is famous sire Big Daddy Cool - whose many offspring have been rehomed via GAP :) This is Les' Dad (who is almost completely white :)):

Les' Dad!

And these are a few pictures of Les winning his races (click on pics to see full size):