Tonight’s William Hill All England card is supported by the Cat 3 William Hill Puppy Final and the Cat 2 Great North Run.
Local handler Jimmy Fenwick sent out two of the three heat winners in the puppy event.
He said: “There is virtually nothing between my two on times. One has a 28.50 on his card and the other has a 28.52. If Kite comes out he would take some catching. But if I had to side with one of them, think Heron is potentially the classier of the two.
“He has performed well in slightly better company and he has a classy stamp about him. I am glad he is drawn on the inside of Sparta Oscar who moved off at the second bend in the heats. I think it is a very decent final.”
John Flaherty, son of Pat, has the least experienced runner in the field in Greenwell Thea. He thinks she is far from out of it though.
He said: “She is very green but she is not lacking ability. I would expect her to come on a long way from those early qualifying trials. For a young bitch first time under lights, she ran really well in the heats, despite losing her way a bit around the first two bends. I think the 7-1 about her is way too big.”
John Mullins said: “We have some time to find, but the heats were his first look at the track and he ran very well considering his inexperience. But this is a far pup as she showed on his first look at Sheffield (29.03 – 500m).
Best prices – 11am – 15-8 Droopys Kite, 3-1 Droopys Heron, 13-2 Poolie Peyton, 8-1 Sparta Oscar, Greenwell Thea, 10-1 Calzaghe Bobby
The inside two dominate the betting in the final of the William Hill Great North Run. Droopys Live is trading on either side of even money.
Angela Harrison said: “She is fine. We had her scanned after the no race and she can out of the re-run in good order.
“Droopys Live’s problem will always be that if she breaks she can break track records. If she doesn’t trap then she is very clumsy and runs into trouble.
“I am happy with the draw next to Slippy Maggie, though she would be the one runner in the field who might be able to come from behind our bitch even if she led.”
Hazel Kemp said: “What can you say really? She has won six out of seven, she is in fine condition and we think she will win it with a clear run.
“I make John’s bitch Minnies Highway as the big danger because she could be difficult to get past, but truthfully we wouldn’t really fear anybody in a two dog race.
“Whatever happens, we are going to enjoy the night. You wait a long time for greyhounds like Maggie to come along and you have to enjoy them.”
Gary Carmichael, trainer of local runner Quivers Fancy said: “I don’t think she has a chance but I hesitate to say that because I didn’t want to enter her and only did so because her owner Dave Gardiner asked me to.
“I didn’t think she could qualify, so he has been proven right. But I still think we are massively up against it and I don’t think we can beat Angela’s bitch in two.”
John Mullins said: “I thought he produced an amazing run to qualify, let alone win last time out. He is a really good genuine dog. In my opinion, if we lead, there is only one greyhound in the race who can catch us and that is Hazel Kemp’s bitch.”
Best prices – 11am – 11-10 Droopys Live, 2-1 Slippy Maggie, 7-1 Swift Hansel, 10-1 Minnies Highway, 50-1 Quivers Fancy, 100-1 Burgess Sugarray
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