Hall Green trainer Richard Baker has begun trialling runners at Henlow.
Racing manager Paul Mellor said: “Richard was here before he went to Hall Green. I gather he has somewhere in the vicinity of 30 dogs though I haven’t spoken to him directly.
“Overall, the numbers have picked up. Anne Kirby has ten or a dozen runners with us and we have a few new trainers. The open race runners have dried up a little bit. As things stand this weekend we may only manage three opens on Sunday which puts the graded strength under a bit of pressure for the night before.”
Henlow take pride in the consistency of their racing surface but like all tracks, they are vulnerable to freak weather. A couple of Sunday’s ago, an all day downpour saw the 460m races calculated to -70 and the 692m open deemed to be -140. However the following Saturday was far more bizarre.
Mellor said: “We prepared the track during the day and anticipated that it would rain so we didn’t water. The rain duly arrived just before racing and was clearly ‘just the right amount’. For the first time that I can ever remember, the track was running .50 fast for the 460. The times were bizarre with the A6 dogs breaking 28.00. It makes it very hard to grade when you are giving away 50 spots for going.”
Needless to say, it was business as usual within 24 hours with the Sunday card running ‘normal’.
Henlow’s outstanding performer in recent weeks has been Savana Dolly (Kinloch Brae-Caulry Hero, Oct 14). The Jason Bloomfield trained black, with only one win in her previous 17 races, polished off A7, A6 and S3 before heading to Crayford to win a 540m maiden in a very decent 33.48 (+30). She then returned to Henlow to complete 116-1 five-timer in A5 company.
Henlow are to stage an 18-runner veteran competition, sponsored by Front Runner TV and live on RPGTV in late September. Open to four year olds, it will carry a £1,000 first prize with £100 for the other finalists
Henlow has been the starting point of many Westmead runners and there will be particular interest in a litter who have just been marked up and should start racing in the autumn.
The ten April 16 whelps are by champion sire Kinloch Brae out of the 2011 Brighton Belle winner Westmead Melanie. The litter sister to the Sussex Cup winner Westmead Maldini then enjoyed a second career over the sticks and landed the Springbok.
