Panther retired for the winter

MILLDEAN Panther was yesterday withdrawn from the Comerford Cakes National Puppy Stake at Shelbourne Park and has been retired for the winter.

A limited number of straws from the young tracking sensation will be available over the winter months.

Milldean Panther had been the first entry received for the big puppy competition which is due to commence next Thursday but John O’Flynn Snr, father of the trainer of the same name, contacted Shelbourne Park yesterday morning to withdraw the dog from the event.

Speaking from his Tullaroan kennel in County Kilkenny, O’Flynn said: “I had a discussion with the owners Tony O’Connell and Clive Wilson yesterday and we decided to change our original plan. We had already stated that the National Puppy was weather dependent and that we wouldn’t run him if winter conditions set in as we don’t want to risk the dog at such a young age.

“We have also been inundated with enquiries from breeders, even as far away as Australia. So, we decided the most sensible thing to do was to call it a day for this year and to take some straws from him during the winter”.

Looking ahead to next year, O’Flynn added: “The Tote Gold Cup or the Easter Cup would appear to be the ideal place to start and we will probably wait for the latter. He will be trained with the Irish Derby very much in mind”.

However O’Flynn did not totally rule out a challenge for the English Derby. “There are no set guidelines in place, everything is an option at this stage and we will just see how things pan out when he returns early in the New Year”.