Page 82 - THE SLOUGHI REVIEW SPECIAL ISSUE 7

T H E S L O U G H I R E V I E W 8 2

LAST BUT NOT LEAST

BY M.-DOMINIQUE CRAPON DE CAPRONA - USA

“Why did you race Sloughis?”, I was asked.

It all started in the United Kingdom in the late 1960s. I was staying in summer at a riding
farm in Devon with my English friend. We did a lot of riding in the hills, always
accompanied by Greyhounds. One day Angie took us to Greyhound racing in Exeter. He
had two very fast dark brindle Greyhounds who won everything. He came back home with
money to feed his 13 greyhounds, several of which were rescues. The excitement of

watching the dogs being presented then run at full speed at night, the fish and chips, the
ambiance, all was amazing for this teenager.

Back in France later, I had my first litter of Sloughis in 1971. When they were old enough, I
heard of an oval racing track in Versoix, Switzerland, just on the other side of the border

from where we lived in France. It was a lot of fun to run the dogs there. They loved it.
After a while one Sloughia stood out. She was the fastest, her name was Uddah.

Because I had to go study at Max Planck in Germany, I could not take my Sloughis with
me. My youngest sister Elisabeth continued the training with them. She entered Uddah at

an international race event in Versoix in 1973 and Uddah was awarded the first ribbon and
medal won by one of my Sloughis.

A while later a rumor circulated that Uddah had won a race and was as valuable as a
racing horse. One day she disappeared and could not be found anywhere for over a week,

until she was found on the side of a road - she had just been hit by a car. We always
suspected a theft. I never quite recovered from that loss, it haunted me for years but the
enthusiasm she had triggered for racing Sloughis simmered and resurfaced two decades
later.

Uddah practicing on the Versoix track,
1973. Her 2 brothers Umri and Ugam
waiting for their turn.