EL TENOR had already reached the age of three and a half when the incident took place, leading him to secure his place in the record books as the most successful open racer in the history of greyhound racing.
He emerged victorious in the Essex Vase at Romford the previous year. Still, it appeared that would be his greatest accomplishment until he was disqualified for displaying aggressive interference in a Crayford open race. As a result, the decision was made to transition him to hurdles.
The Talent Was Instantaneous
Right from the start, it was evident that the dog, belonging to Italian film producer Mario Lanfranchi and trained by Linda Mullins, had a natural talent. In just a little over two months after his mishap at Crayford, he triumphed in his inaugural hurdle race at Wimbledon.
His triumph in that race disqualified him from participating in the 1998 Springbok for novice hurdlers at Wimbledon. However, by the time the William Hill Grand National arrived, held for the last time at Hall Green in Birmingham, he had already emerged victorious in nine out of his 13 jumps races.
El Tenor, known for his endurance on flat surfaces, faced doubts about his ability to handle the 480m distance against tough competition. However, he proved his critics wrong by surging ahead in the first round, narrowly securing victory at the finish line. After being defeated in the second round, he quickly regained his momentum with a resounding win in the semi-finals. However, it was his remarkable performance in the final that will be forever etched in the annals of the National's history. Despite starting far behind, he made a stunning comeback and triumphed by half a length, leaving everyone in awe.
Records Were Broken One After Another
Following that, El Tenor achieved numerous victories, primarily in longer races. He surpassed Poor Sue's previous record of 69 open wins by triumphing at Nottingham in December 1998. However, when he returned to four bends to defend his National title in 1999, his momentum was abruptly halted as he encountered obstacles while making his way around the last few bends.
At this point, connections had their eyes set on a century of victories, and he was being campaigned with that goal in mind. As he reached his fifth birthday in July 1999, he was starting to take a bit more time to recover from his races.
In October of that year, he experienced his last taste of defeat. From then on, he went on an impressive streak of 11 consecutive victories. The ninth win in this remarkable series was particularly memorable as it marked his achievement of reaching 100 wins at Romford in March 2000.
Fascinating Information About El Tenor
- He has achieved victory in 99 races, all of which were open competitions.
- On 34 instances, the lead was taken at the initial bend or even earlier.
- He is currently on a remarkable winning streak, having won eight consecutive games. He experienced a series of successive losses, lasting for five races. These races were the initial five of his career, consisting of four puppy races and one A6, all held at Walthamstow.
- He has been the top choice on 133 occasions, emerging victorious in 87 of those instances.
- The success rate of 65.4 percent
- His most impressive victory came at Hackney in April 1996 with odds of 9-2, while his most dominant performance was at Nottingham in June 1999 with odds of 1-14. In September 1998, he experienced his shortest SP when he was beaten with odds of 1-8 at Crayford.
- In 1999, he set new records in five different tracks: Nottingham (500mH), Catford (555mH), Canterbury (625mH), Walthamstow (640mH), and Romford (575mH).
- He attempted the eight-bend journey on four separate occasions (all 714m Crayford) and was defeated on every occasion.
- He has come in second place a total of 42 times, with 13 of those times being by a margin of half a length or less.
- His weight has fluctuated over time. His typical winning weight is 34.2kg (13 victories); his lowest recorded weight is 32.2kg; his highest recorded weight is 35.1kg (most recently).
- The total time he achieved is 57 minutes and 12.14 seconds. The time it takes for him to win, on average, is 34.66 seconds.