By Mark Pierrepont
Four graded races start the evening off at Nottingham and it’s in the first of these , an A3 at 6.29pm , that we have our first interest. Bromwich Eske (NAP) trained by Lynn Cook has been off the card for a few weeks since finishing a well beaten second behind Elegant Pixie on the 15th June.
Whatever the issue was it couldn’t have been anything too serious and a comeback trial of 18.45 (normal) over the 305m trip shows him in decent enough shape. He’s not electric over the first 20 yards or so but paces up well to the turn thereafter and with very little in the way of early pace in this race and with a runner next door in trap 4 who moves to the right every time he runs from this box, Eske is sure to get a nice run to the bend and if turning in front he can land the spoils on his comeback.
It’s the Stadium Bookmakers Puppy Trophy at 752pm and i’m siding with Arthur Noodle (NEXT BEST) trained by Patrick Godfrey at Poole. Noodle has been off the card since finishing runner up in the Coors Light Puppy Trophy Final here at Nottingham on the 11th June. A sprint trial of 15.10 (normal) at Poole last week isn’t too shabby at all however and her early pace can see her getting first run on main market rival Droopys Albert. If doing so she should be very difficult to beat. Noodle recorded 29.83 (+50) when winning her heat of the aforementioned Coors competition , an excellent run for any bitch , let alone one who was making her track debut. Hopefully Noodle will do the business tonight but regardless of the result , keep her in your notebooks for any bitches only competitions coming up during the remainder of the year , she’s sure to be a leading player in any that she’s entered for.
It’s the GMG Maiden Trophy at 8.07pm and it’s a race that shouldn’t take a lot of winning. The Geraldine Kovac trained Genuine Rebel has had as many trials as races since winning well on her career debut at Peterborough last September so things can’t have been straight forward for her trainer. This race is a big step down in class however and with an opportunity to get in front by the turn , she should have no excuses thereafter in landing her maiden open victory.
It’s heat 1 of the Stadium Bookmakers Trophy at 8.51pm and i’m siding with Whiteys Rocket (TREBLE) trained by David Pruhs. Rocket didn’t exactly fly the lids last week , leaving at least 1/2 length in the traps if not a little more , despite this he still recorded an outrageous 392 split. After being purchased off the back of an excellent 28.65 run around Waterford , he’d recently been confined to sprints. This could go some way to explaining why he threw away what looked a good lead when racing over this course and distance last week when easing badly at the sough. This isn’t an easy race by any means but if trapping level it’s difficult to see him not turning the bend in front. If doing so his main market rivals are likely to face an uphill battle attempting to pick him up given that they also appreciate being on the rabbit early.
