CALICO RANGER added his name to a famous roll of honour when he landed a brilliant win in The St Leger Final at a packed Perry Barr on Saturday.

Trained by Carol Weatherall for partner Darren Holmes and longtime owner and breeder Keith Hardiman, Calico Ranger grabbed the major trophy his talent always promised as he swooped to conquer approaching the final bend in a pulsating 710m final.

After favourite Magical Icarus (David Jeans) stumbled at traps, it was race-on amongst the rest of the field as fast-starting John Mullins-trained Minnies Highway led his field from Ridgedale Max (Philip Simmonds) ahead of local outsider Token Memory (Ian Bradford).

Ridgedale Max made a move to challenge and edge Minnies Highway approaching the fifth turn, but Calico Ranger was making ominous headway down the back-straight second time and, keeping wide, hit the front off the last chased by Slippy Maggie (Hazel Kemp).

That order remained to the line as the Kent St Leger champion battled hard to chase down the leader. However, Calico Ranger stood firm to win by three-quarters of a length in 43.09sec (normal) and land a famous success in the stayers’ Classic for the Rugby-based set-up.

Owners Keith Hardiman (left) and Darren Holmes hold the trophy alongside trainer Carol Weatherall and her daughter Natalie

“This is fantastic, and is better than the Scottish Derby,” said trainer Weatherall of her new St Leger champion, himself a son of Holdem Spy, their Shawfield victor. “This litter has always been special and we had both sire and dam (Wont Fall Behind) so it’s got to be better.

“He deserves this so much. He’s built up a following, is an exciting dog to watch, but you could never be certain he’d stay – especially 710m. But he’s stayed really well, and was still holding Hazel’s bitch to just before the pick-up. He’s a gutsy dog.”

Darren Holmes added: “To win the St Leger is everything to us, as it is to every trainer. I know there’s been criticism about the prize-money, but you wonder whether the trainers that moaned had the dogs to be here in the first place.

“Why would you not run here, and instead go for a £200 or £250 open somewhere? This is the St Leger – yes there have been issues, and we’re all aware of that. Hopefully something will be sorted next year, but why would we miss such an historic competition?

“This race was first run in 1933 – and our name is on it now. I’m proud of Carol and all the team – it’s a busy weekend with the Henlow final, too, but great to win. It’s especially great to win this for Keith (Hardiman, part-owner) who I’ve known for many years.”

Hardiman, who owned Calico Ranger’s dam Wont Fall Behind, first owned greyhounds at West Ham with trainer Ken Appleton in 1957 and, at 81, has seen a few St Legers. “It was great to be involved – but to win one is the icing on the cake!’ he said.

He added: “I’ve had some good luck with Darren and Carol with Greenhill Gem winning the Angel of the North – and she has litters on the ground, which is great. It’s that part of the game which is a passion to me – and we’ve litters from her and Wont Fall Behind to look forward to still.”

A crack at the ‘Ted Hegarty’ Marathon at Harold’s Cross is being pondered by connections of Calico Ranger, who might instead have a crack at the Ballyregan Bob Memorial at Hove. At this stage, a bid for the TV Trophy at Crayford is unlikely.

Martin Seal, racing manager at Perry Barr, was delighted with the evening’s racing, commenting: “It was a great final and great competition. I thank those owners and trainers who have supported it – and hopefully we can stage the St Leger again next year.”

Martin Fennings, general manager at the GRA venue, added: “Well done to connections of Calico Ranger – he was a great winner and the support for the winner could be heard a long way back. I think they were pretty confident he’d win!

“We have been proud to stage the St Leger for the second time this year. There were some difficult circumstances surrounding it, but it was important to stage the competition. We will certainly be discussing the situation moving forward.

“As for tonight, we had our biggest crowd of the year. The restaurant and grandstand was absolutely full and there was a real buzz, a good atmosphere and hopefully people could see we made a real effort in terms of building up final night itself.”