Andy Johnson's Six Ashes kennels along with connections were distraught at the tragic loss of Semies Count three days ago.

Owned by the Bloxwich Dawkins family, Semies Count was the 4-5 favourite, he opened at 5-4, to win the final of the 1,000 Betfredpoker.com 700 metres event on Select night at Nottingham.

But when the race started Semies was slowly away and at turn one something was clearly wrong as he started to lose speed.

The track vet later treated him but was powerless to save the dog's life as a broken leg was so severe.

"Everyone was in a state of shock," said Johnson. "It can be a cruel world greyhound racing and you never want to see anything like this."

Semies Count had raced only nine times and won six of them including the Carling Stayers Cup at Nottingham last month.

Greyhound Action comment:

Trainer Andy Johnson knows damn well that he's going to see injuries and death all the time in the world of greyhound racing. Therefore, if he really cares about the dogs, he should get out of the business. In normal circumstances, even a severe break to a dog's leg can be repaired and, even if the leg has to be amputated, the dog can live quite happily in a home environment. Sadly, this wasn't an option for Semies Count. No money to be made out of him if he couldn't race again, was there?

""............. at Nottingham the track is to be re-aligned. It will run, from my understanding, inside the present track..........Moving the track will obviously tighten the track and make it more dangerous for the welfare of greyhounds. The only reason the track is being moved is for better viewing from the bar area. I find this disguisting + are they getting funding for this project."

"The general manager is quoted in the Greyhound Star as saying that the trainers wanted a shorter standard distance. If there is anyone reading this who knows why the trainers want a shorter distance then I would be interested to hear from them. I suspect that the real reason is the other one quoted that the customers in
the restaurant can't see the action on the home straight properly.
So where does this put the welfare of the greyhounds that have to negotiate the tighter bends? Obviously it comes below the welfare of the restaurant customers."