There were a number of very creditable performances on Saturday but the tenacious run of Dazl Rolex to land a first PGR Golden Jacket for Ricky Holloway has to head the list. The 45.03 time was decent enough off a 23.34 sectional. In a solo before the event got underway, Rolex actually recorded 22.94.
With the Golden Sprint about to kick-off (Friday), the Romford selection goes to the quickest trialstake winner at the weekend. In which case it was Maxine Locke’s Droopys Eddie with a 23.77 run. His PB is 23.56 recorded when he was just 21 months old.
Meanwhile kennelmate Droopys Display was on a reccy mission at Monmore and put himself into the category of ‘serious Puppy Derby contender’ with a FOW 28.30 run beating the highly rated Newinn Deejay.
With the seemingly unbeatable Good Streak off trialling at Monmore, also with the Puppy Derby in mind, it was down to Britbull Casper to seize the Harlow title in his absence. A 26.58 run in A2 was all it took.
Returning to the puppy theme, 18 month old Coppice Leger was head and shoulders for the most impressive Newcastle winner this week with a 28.64 A2 win for trainer Jimmy Fenwick.
There is also a pup heading the Sunderland list. Port West Storm has probably already passed any expectations that were had of her. Her Irish card showed four races, never in the first three and beaten 30 lengths in the last two. So seeing off an A2 field in the fastest time of the week can only be considered as ‘massive bonus’.
The was a FOY for Swindon’s 476m course on Tuesday when Mister Donovan produced a 28.24 run, though the going was rated +30. Two days later, Millridge Tanic produced the quickest six bend run of the year, 41.42, and this time it was on ‘N’ going.
It was also stayers to the fore at Suffolk Downs on Thursday with Colin Finch’s Garnacanty Girl landing the easily the quickest 548m open on the day by seven lengths in 34.21 (-30). Girl was sold for £1,900 at the Greyhoundtrader Yarmouth sale last April. She has won three of her last four opens.
And at Oxford on Friday where Droopys Creative was almost six lengths quicker than the closest 650m winner when winning by three and a half length in 39.76 (-20). Creative is a former track record holder in 39.47.
Tory Bellatrix was beaten on her last visit to Oxford but popped with a new 664m track record at Central Park on Saturday night. It is difficult to assess then merit of Mark Newberry’s bitch’s win – the 708m course have been more widely used – but it was still five lengths quicker than the previous best. By way of comparison she does have 43.12 form for six bends at Towcester.
Among the tougher calls this week was Doncaster where Bogger Rambo landed a Saturday night 450m open in 27.71 (-30). But, we’ve gone for the locally trained youngster Brick Baron with a 29.84 (-30) run over the 483m trip, his third win in his last five outings.
Yarmouth staged the best A1 in many a moon on Wednesday with defending POW Inflation taking on the regularly ungradeable Alberts Legacy (13/8jf). But the surprise winner was the locally bred Smores. There can’t be many occasions when a dog with a last line of form of 27.43 goes to traps as a 6/1 chance.
There was also a humdinger of a graded battle at Perry Barr in an A1 which included prolific hounds such as Moyar Brow and Lynnwood Assin. But the locals all knew that the real head-to-head was between reigning POW Darley Diglake (7/4) and former winner Swift Prank (15/8). It actually came down to a short head. Which in this case, was brindle.
The Nottingham selection couldn’t have been much more simple. With two meetings lost to the weather, Colin Wilton’s Sambar Jack, the only runner to break 30.00 for 500 metres this week.
Hove had their own issues with a couple of lost meetings. All was sorted by Saturday enabling the 18 month old youngster Droopys Dialogue to produce the week’s best middle distance run in A1 – and become the youngest hound on the chart.
At 3.57 on Sunday, it seemed likely that Links Maverick had secured the POW at Sheffield with a 27.80 for the 480 metre trip. Twenty minutes later local A1 winner Catunda Layla had blown that out of the water with a 27.51 run. That’s three in a row for Steve Naylor’s bitch who meets the Heilbron flyer over 500m in next week’s final. (The quickest run over course and distance last year was Lively Lauren’s 27.36.)
The Valley selection is an overdue mention for the prolific Sallagh Finn. Robert Short’s brindle clocked an impressive 28.60 on Sunday with his eighth win in his last ten outings.
In addition to at least a couple of ‘Droopys’ (or four), we invariably have at least one ‘Ballymac’ featured every week. At Kinsley, Ballymac Alyssa replaced Bev Heaton’s similarly prefixed, ‘Frisby’ following an A2 win on Sunday. It was actually the fifth time that Alyssa has ‘performed’ in the last six months.
Pelaw’s best pup Tromora Supreme clocked 25.99 on debt, was short-headed next time out by Blastoff Cassius (25.95), but stepped it up again with a 25.76 run on Sunday.
Last week the Towcester selection was narrowed down to the fastest of Patrick Janssens’ five 500m open winners on Sunday, with the quickest being Edwards with a 29.09 run. This week it was a choice of Patrick’s five 500m open winners with the quickest being Edwards with a 29.12 run. It was the only successful POW defence.
