HUGHES VIEWS AT POOLE

by Kaan Hughes

The hugely anticipated appearance of Poole on RPGTV came to the fore this week where they staged their first two meetings. Things went smoothly well on the racing front and from what I gather from outside viewers is that they are pleased with what Poole has shown so far. There are a few things at the track which can be improved upon and through doing this I believe can enhance the experience for racegoers and viewers. These in time will hopefully come across well and push the track further forward into the modern era 

The first race seen by all was an A7 graded affair won by Jitterbug where the Alma Keppie trained charge led from trap rise to give the handler her first winner of the year, kicking off what will be an attempt at defending her 3rd year of being champion trainer after securing last year’s honours with 216 winners from 1014 runners. It’s worth noting the significance of Jitterbugs win after last year going a remarkable 25 consecutive races without a win, which is considerably high where the next longest losing sequence in the kennel stood at 13 races.

Mexico was the leading winner for the kennel with 9 wins and I’m sure he will be on the score sheet again this year, with the addition to many new talents Alma brings to the track. It is worth noting the miles clocked up from the kennel on their travels too and leading open racer for them was Only One LeeMac who broke the track record at Poole twice within the week over the sprint distance last Summer.

Next closest on the championship list was Bill Black with 171 winners, whose leading charge was Suirview Model with again 9 wins. One of the kennel intakes which shone quickly around the circuit was Boozed Honey who reeled off 4 wins from 9 starts and in addition landed an open at sister track Swindon. It Is worth noting that ‘Honey’ also won on the first RPGTV meeting, and will be sure to play her part this year along with many new youngsters joining the strength for Carol (Assistant trainer) and William who look set for a bright year.

There are many trainers at the track who had a good year at the venue and also on their travels such as David Lewis, who reached the British bred Oaks final with Sevenofnine, Simon Harms with his ever consistent ‘Loggies Ranger’ and John Campbell’s ‘Swift Merlot’ who always notches up sprint wins, these were their leading charges but they also held their own with many other kennel stars. One trainer worth following will be the newly recruited Patrick Browne who has some nice dogs in his kennel and will be sure to do well this year. 

A few pointers for RPGTV viewers and punters into the dimensions of the Poole circuit are as follows. The track has a 390m circumference with the run to the corner from the spring curved boxes being 80m with a 58m run in. The hare that is used is a Swaffham. It is a very fair circuit with many reading too much into the ‘lead you win’ manual. But there is plenty of passing room here and with a fairly nice run in there is still plenty of time for the places to change off the last bend. 

 

Dogs to follow in the coming weeks on the Poole strength: 

Loggies Brandy (Skywalker Puma x Boozed Jordan) – April 16 

Only seven races under her belt but after reeling of a hat-trick of wins on her most recent starts. She now poses 4 wins from those starts and has already found herself in top grade. She was hand-picked by the owner from only weeks old and has been a great addition to the kennel. What is worth noting more is not what she does now over four bends but where her future looks to lie over further distances. When the time comes, I’m sure she will be a handful

Riverside Pandy (Taylors Sky x Coolavanny Pandy) – Jan 2016 

Only two races on the card and a bit of a stop start career so far with season intervening in the middle. She ran a tremendous race on debut back in August after showing all the puppy signs, but still managed to come from behind to get up on the line. Her next appearance four months on post season and not much more could have gone wrong with a missed break, trouble and just probably lack of fitness. But this bitch has bundles of speed and looks a good breaker who wants the rail. When she appears back on the strength I fully expect her to go through the grades 

 

Derragh Robin (Ballymac Vic x Welly Boots) – May 2016 

A new intake for the kennel and with only two races on her CV there isn’t much to go by. In both of those races you can see she has pace, but both times showed puppy signs and couldn’t have found more trouble. In terms of track knowledge, she hasn’t made her mind up where she wants to run, but when she does she has ability. Her dam has already thrown many proven winning pups and this is another which will be on the list shortly. 

 

Be sure to follow back in the coming weeks where I will be updating viewers and readers on events at the track and hope to give you as much insight and help as possible. The 3 to follow above will expand in the coming weeks as new dogs arrive on the scene. If there is anything anybody would like to know or get in touch about then I can be contacted on the following social media sites below.  

Be lucky 

Kaan 

 

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