Sonic Flight – a father again 20 years on

Sonic Flight – a father again 20 years on 

Sonic Flight, winner of titles including the Scottish Derby, Select Stakes and Irish Laurels, and who, most famously, sired the remarkable Westmead Hawk, fathered his last litter in June 2011, writes Gail May.  

Or so we thought…. 

A while ago I was contacted by Diana Pickering from Oregon, asking if I could help her get in touch with Nick Savva to get his blessing for the use of a Sonic Flight vial that she had owned for 20 years and had been waiting for that “special” bitch to come along, worthy of the mating. She needed Nick’s permission as there had been some mislaying of paperwork given the time that had lapsed. 

Ultimately, the paperwork was located without the need for Nick’s intervention, but that sparked our interest in the whole situation. I spoke to Nick about the idea, and he assured me that the vial would still be fine after all that time. 

A couple of weeks later, Diana messaged again to say that her bitch, Goddessofthehunt, had whelped a litter of 10 beautiful healthy pups. She also filled me in with details of how the litter came about. 

Diane got into racing as a result of adopting a retired racer. Stan was very slow but the most amazing pet and from there she became involved with an adoption group, and then became a racing owner. 

“That one adoption changed my life,” Pickering said. 

“In 2019, when the Florida vote happened with the decision to ban racing in the state, someone I knew was selling off their vials and getting out of racing. He would only sell everything in a lot, that lot included the vial of Sonic Flight. At the time I didn't know who Sonic Flight was”. 

The vendor was very keen on Sonic as a sire, so Diana began to research him. At the time she didn't have a bitch that she felt was the proper quality to match with him, but she knew she wanted to breed to him if she found the right bitch. Fast forward to Goddessofthehunt (pictured below).  

Pickering continued: “She was a once in a lifetime dog.  She ran in the Southland Festival of Stakes against the top dogs in the nation for three years. Her best races were at 603m. If she broke out of the boxes first it was rare a dog would overtake her. But when she had to come from behind, she was such a smart racer. She was planning a few moves ahead and it kept her from getting in trouble, but also allowed her to find a way around the scrum.”

“Goddessofthehunt continued to run until she was four and a half years old, when Southland closed.  Southland was the premier track.  Only the top dogs in the nation could run there, and very few competed in the stakes races.  When Southland closed, I was devastated.  This was the track I was breeding my dogs to compete at, and the remaining tracks were just not the same quality.  It was also clear that the writing was on the wall for racing in the US.  Not long after Texas and Iowa closed their tracks, leaving us with just a single state left with two tracks.  It became clear that racing would be run by a handful of kennels with contracts at those two tracks”. 

So, what do you do when the sport you love comes to an end? 

“I love greyhounds and their athleticism,” added Pickering.

 “I couldn't just walk away from the breed I love or consider them as just house pets.  I began competing with some of my dogs in amateur sports in the US, in particular lure coursing.  In my first year I took a little NGA (National Greyhound Association) bred greyhound (unraced) and began competing in lure coursing, winning the Greyhound Club Nationals in lure coursing in my first year.  I began to realise that there were very few high-quality bred greyhounds in amateur sports.  They were either bred for show (with little or poor lure drive and athleticism) or were bred from poor quality track dogs that wouldn't even make it on the track.“

“In 2021, I decided to use one of my 'Grade A' racers with nice conformation as an experiment to see if I could breed a litter of high-quality NGA dogs to compete in the AKC (American Kennel Club) amateur world of lure coursing, conformation (dog shows), agility, etc.  I bred a dog named Flying Anchovy to Flying Man of God. That litter went on to produce some dogs that have taken the amateur world by storm!  It produced a dog that has broken the world record in dock diving, another that set the speed record as the fastest dog in the US in 2023, another was number one in straight racing. All dogs were ranked in the top 10 in lure coursing in the US and my dog 'The Dude' was also winning in the show ring and beating show dogs, confirming that a functional greyhound can also be pretty.” 

When Goddess retired from the track, Pickering was offered a lot of money from people in other countries to sell her as a brood.  She felt she deserved a nice home after all she had given on the track, but she also deserved to be bred from.  She decided to breed her for amateur sports, as the quality of her calibre hasn't been seen in the amateur realm, particularly as, since retiring from the track, Goddess had a successful career in lure coursing. She was such a smart runner it translated into the field amazingly well.  When looking for a sire, Sonic Flight ticked all the boxes.   

Pickering's plan was to breed her using NGA and then to cross register all the pups to AKC, but plans went a little awry due to terrible weather just at the time a 25-hour drive was needed to have the procedure done at an NGA vet. This now means that work has to be done to enable any of the pups to race on the track.  

Pickering said: “I am planning on keeping a few dogs that I will show, lure course, dock dive and compete in agility.  A few will go to some other owners that I have handpicked, who plan to compete in like sports to help show how a high-quality track-bred dog can dominate.  I very much miss racing, but I am trying to do my best by the breed in a future in the US without racing.  I do still have a few dogs available, but I am being very picky as to where they go."

And how are the pups doing? 

“So far, I am really liking what I am seeing in these pups. I always look for balanced conformation in pups as they hold up better to the rigors of racing/sport as you don't have one part overcompensating and making up for other weaker muscle groups."

Those of us fortunate enough to have witnessed the track craft of Sonic Flight and his son, Westmead Hawk, will wonder if this could be a match made in heaven.

Nick Savva is very excited by the litter. He was absolutely beaming as we discussed them last week, particularly the bit about the track craft Goddess possessed. I am hoping that paperwork loopholes can be got around so that two of the pups can make their way to me in England and we can follow the story more closely. "

Watch this space….