All going well in Puppy Derby preparation

Monmore racing manager Tony Williamson is warning trainers that the ‘cut’ for this year’s Ladbrokes.com Puppy Derby could be around 28.50.

The 36-runner competition, open to April 14 whelps and younger, closes at 11am on Monday and the local grader is expecting another bumper entry.

He said: “Most of the dogs have probably been around already. There are a few still to trial but we had 58 entries last year and I would expect at least as many. I am guessing you will be need to have done around the 28.50 mark to get into the event.”

Patrick Janssens’ Barricane Bullet (Scolari Me Daddy-Business Diva, Apr 14) set the benchmark on Thursday night with a 28.25 win on going rated .50 slow.

Williamson said: “It was an exceptional run. He showed amazing early pace to lead up as he did and I am convinced we got the going spot on. One of our local runners Barnagane Glen ran exactly what we would have expected later on in the meeting.

“The only reason that the going was slow was because we had to salt the track on Tuesday and we will do the same thing again tomorrow for Saturday.

“I am hoping that the weather improves before the first round and that we can see the benefits of the new sprinkler system on the track. It was fitted at the end of last month and is excellent.”

The news that Monmore even considered adopting sprinklers will have come as a shock to disciples of Ladbrokes’ former Head of Stadia and track guru, Gordon Bissett who was always against them.

Williamson said: “That was the old type. They would miss areas and leave other parts of the track ‘puddingy’. These are completely different. We haven’t used the bowser at all which means there is less compaction of the racing surface. They are the same type used by the Corals tracks and are definitely an improvement.”

Trialstake winners