Joe’s Romford picks
*** 9.28 Romford – Avarua Zlatan (5/2 Coral)
** 7.11 Romford – Ballymac Johnjo (3/1 Coral)
*8.01 Romford – Brigadir Brindle (13/8 Coral)
The start of the open race weekend action gets underway at Romford this evening with races over various distances.
The nap of the evening runs in the 9.28, the 400m Romford Racing Rocks Standard. Avarua Zlatan runs from trap one and although he was beat by Whitewood Lenny last time they met, Whitewood Lenny will have a battle clearing King Stevens on his inside so as long as Avarua Zlatan can hold Saffrons Dash and Without Cause to the first bend, he should go on to land the spoils in a competitive affair.
The next best is Ballymac Johnjo in the Its National Greyhound Week Stayers over 575m at 7.11. He ran a really creditable race behind Fabulous Sonique prior to heading to Monmore for a crack at the Summer Stayers where he was knocked out in the semi-final behind Coonough Crow. He has found himself in a winnable race if he does things right and keeps himself to himself out wide from trap six.
The third bet of the evening is Brigadir Brindle in the Romford Friday Night Maiden Heat three at 8.01. This dog burst onto the scene with a 23.81 victory in A1 on UK debut last month and has since been to Nottingham for a tilt at the Puppy Classic where he made the semi-final. It is a strong maiden he in this evening but a similar run to his last start at the Essex venue should see him head into next weeks final with another victory under his belt
East Anglian Derby – 1st round draw
Yarmouth’s big competition of the year gets underway on Wednesday.
Antigua Eagle will look to go one place better than his excellent Ladbrokes Gold Cup run for Kevin Hutton. Millbank Boiler for Gemma Evans is one of the most promising youngsters in the field and warmed up for this with a smart win last Saturday. There is also a string of the top local dogs to form a strong home defence against the field.
We will have an ante post preview of the competition next week.
Empress Stakes prices
Sunday sees the start of the bet365 Empress Stakes at Towcester. The 500m contest for bitches has a smart entry list and it promises to be three weeks of quality competition. The ante post and heat prices from the sponsors are below.
7/2 Avongate Venus 11/2 New Destiny, Queen Georgia 7/1 Leighas Dream 14/1 Fabulous Terra, Icemans Girl 16/1 Coolavanny Mercy, Havana Lover, Queen Shakira, Rapido Lady 20/1 Ballymac Camilla, Droopys Rosie 25/1 March On Kit, Minnies Bullet 28/1 Droopys Eunice 33/1 Baggios Intent, Run Ella Run, Signet Tess 40/1 Arthur Cucumber, Greencroft Carla, Knockbann Daisy, Tromora Rex 50/1 Astral Queen, Chelms Weeney, Makeit Epic 66/1 Makeit A Breeze, Makeit Bigcheeks, Urlee Star 100/1 Arthur Crumpet, Baggios Emoski, Ballymac Neems, Chelms Elaine, Makeit Mead, Too Wright, 150/1 Dapper Lana 200/1 Arthur Chicken
Heat 1
4/9 Icemans Girl 3/1 Baggios Intent 8/1 Chelms Weeney 10/1 Astral Queen 25/1 Dapper Lana 50/1 Arthur Chicken
Heat 2
2/11 Avongate Venus 6/1 Minnie Bullet 14/1 Arthur Cucumber, Makeit Bigcheeks 16/1 Urlee Star 33/1 Chelms Elaine
Heat 3
4/9 Queen Georgia 3/1 Coolavanny Mercy 10/1 Ballymac Camilla, Droopys Rosie 20/1 Tromora Rex 33/1 Makeit Mead
Heat 4
8/15 Leighas Dream 5/2 Havana Lover 8/1 Droopys Eunice 14/1 Knockbann Daisy, Makeit Epic 33/1 Baggios Emoski
Heat 5
1/5 New Destiny 6/1 March On Kit 10/1 Greencroft Carla 12/1 Makeit A Breeze 25/1 Arthur Crumpet 50/1 Too Wright
Heat 6
2/1 Fabulous Terra, Queen Shakira 11/4 Rapid Lady 7/1 Run Ella Run, Signet Tess 33/1 Ballymac Neems
Produce Stakes review
Coppice Ella led the way in the eight heats with her 27.93 success.
Kevin Hutton’s recent British Bred Oaks winner timed her challenge well to run down Tom Heilbron’s Romeo Cypher in the final few strides. She was the middle leg of a treble for Hutton with Union Rebel (28.03) and Southfield Poppy (28.22) also winning. A 3.93 from Romeo Cypher was the fastest sectional from any of the races.
Heilbron had better luck earlier on in the evening with Romeo Crusade (28.17) a fluent winner of the opening heat. Romeo Crossfire (28.06) would double up for the kennel, justifying short odds in heat four.
The other three winners were Cassidy (28.42), Bang On Edith (28.11) and Keefill Rocky (28.38) for Michael Burton, Nathan Hunt and Phil Milner respectively.
The draw for the quarter-finals has been made and can be found on this link.
Ballinabola Ed has been retired
The dog nicknamed the ‘White Flash’ has run his last race.
A dual Derby quarter-finalist at Towcester, he was a dog of huge natural ability. The winner of the RPGTV Open 600 at Shelbourne as well as the Race Of Champions, he was not a dog who had a lot of luck during his racing career.
From the earliest days of setting new figures over Tralee’s 525y in just his third career race, he always looked to be destined for great things. Perhaps that lack of luck meant that he did not achieve quite what a dog of his natural ability could have done but there is little doubt that for sheer speed, he was one of the top dogs in recent times.
Upcoming trainer changes at Monmore
There are a number of trainer changes happening at Monmore shortly.
Ellie Field will be taking over on a temporary licence to begin on September 1 from Ian Langford.
For his part, Langford said: “I just want to thank everyone who I’ve worked for, especially Andy Johnson, and Carol Weatherall and Darren Holmes.
Esther Driver will be taking over as trainer for Paul Sallis from September 1.
Robert Hall will be joining Monmore on December 1.
Mark Russel starts October 1 and Mark Mackemsley September 7.
Daily Stats
- Over Easy – 7.58 Harlow – 9/12 from trap six at Harlow.
- Kapuka Warrior – 8.45 Kilkenny – 4/5 in A1 grade at the track.
- Tullymurry Dylan – 9.11 Romford – 6/8 in open races at Romford.
Opens
Friday: Romford
Saturday: Perry Barr ♦ Doncaster
Sunday: Crayford
Wednesday: Yarmouth
