Greyhound trainer Ben McPhillips shines at Star Pelaw

Greyhound trainer Ben McPhillips shines at Star Pelaw

27-year-old greyhound trainer Ben McPhillips, who is based at Bathgate in West Lothian between Glasgow and Edinburgh, says the three-and-half-hour drive to Star Pelaw is worth it, with the kennel showing 21 winners from 86 graded runners and a 24.41% strike rate this calendar year. 

Speaking about Star Pelaw, Ben McPhillips said: “It takes over three hours to get there, but it’s a straight road and I stop off a couple of times to make sure the greyhounds are well looked after. The van is fully air-conditioned, and they get plenty of fluids.

"Its a great track to be part of, Kim Sanzone does a terrific job as the head of greyhound operations, as does the racing manager Dave Gray and deputy Craig Day. The track is improving all the time; Ben Keith is putting a lot of money into it, and it’s got a lovely family feel to the place, and it’s also good for young trainers like myself. The track staff put the work in; it’s an amazing place to be involved with and everything is going in the right direction.’’

Speaking about his background, Ben McPhillips added: “I’m the youngest or at least one of the youngest trainers in the UK. I came from the flaps, Armadale was close by when I was younger, and I’ve picked up lots along the way. I'm mostly self taught, I check them over myself and believe you get out what you put in. As a youngster, I was into boxing and kickboxing but then greyhounds took over.’’

Attention then moved onto the team around Ben and those that help him out daily. 

“I couldn’t do it all without the help of my mum and dad. They look after our two little boys most days and that allows myself and my partner Chloe to work with the dogs, so a massive shout-out and thank you to my parents.’’ 

Trainer Ben McPhillips with partner Chloe

Ben continued: “I’d also like to give a shoutout to Darren Little, who trains at Newcastle. He’s a young trainer like myself and only has a handful of dogs and goes up against good dogs week in and week out and is competing with some of the best trainers in the country at Newcastle. We speak regularly and he’s a great help. I’m also in contact with English Greyhound Derby winning trainer Patrick Janssens. He’s a great guy and helps me out a lot. Richie Taberner is another that I’m in regular contact with. He helped me at Kinsley a couple of years back, sending runners my way. They would then reach their potential around Kinsley and returned to Richie to run at Monmore. I can’t thank him enough for that opportunity.’’

Talking about his current kennel strength and how he trains the greyhounds, McPhillips went on to say: “The work that goes into the dogs is huge, 5.30am until 10pm is a regular kind of day. Everything has to be right, it’s sort of like an obsessive-compulsive disorder thing. I like everything done properly. 

"Any minor niggles then they are off the track until they're 100% fit and ready to return. We spend too much time and effort on feeding them superbly, so it’s not worth going there for the run money. They have to be fit and healthy. An A8 winner means as much to me as an open race winner. They all get fed the same and treated the same. Welfare is a huge part. Every dog that retires goes to a good contact I have in the game. If their form is tailing off, they're retired. I would rather see that than running bottom grade and just picking up run money.  

McPhillips added: “The new additions to the kennel are taking their time to handle Star Pelaw. They came over from Ireland and are just taking a while to come to hand. Most have been off for a while and have only run a handful of times. They have age on their side though, and we haven’t done an awful lot with them yet. When they have gone Star Pelaw, they haven’t had much luck in running, but that will come with time and experience as they improve. 

Trainer Ben McPhillips can be contacted on 07842091556 via phone or benmcphillips123@gmailcom via email for those looking to get involved with a runner or two at Star Pelaw.