We are still a fortnight away from the start of the Ladbrokes sponsored Puppy Derby and Winter Derby but the quality has been congregating at Monmore in ever growing numbers.
Saturday night features trialstakes for both with one unconfined 480, featuring Cat One winners Queen Jessiej and Tenpin, taking on top local Jazzers Man, well worthy of the half the places in the Cat One decider.
Among the more interesting runners in the puppy event will be Angie Kibble’s Westway Blake (Laughil Blake-Rockburst Pearl, Mar 19), looking to extend the kennel’s winning streak that included the Property 192 Oaks and BGBF British Bred Leger at the end of 2020.
No runner on Saturday’s prestigious card boasts a better record than the March puppy whose record stands at seven wins from eight races.
His form to date includes a 29.50 (480m) open win at Central Park, a 29.58 (500m) trial at Sheffield and a 27.96 calculated 476m run at Swindon.
Angie’s partner Bob Baker said: “Henry Scimia asked us to take him and he had nothing special on his Irish card. But we really don’t know how good he is; he keeps improving. He has seven wins and was knocked over in the other one.
“Although he only just broke 28.00 on a calculated time at Swindon, those times are hard to judge. I think he would go pretty close to the clock on summer going.”
With Oaks winner Ballymac Trend now with Patrick Janssens, Blake is now the kennel’s leading four bend contender.
How do the pair compare?
“It’s hard to say” says Baker, “but I think he would beat her.”
