The majority of Eden The Kid’s offspring have inherited their father’s stamina and determination and no finer example that Havana Top Note who reached his SEVENTH Category One final when taking the quickest semi final of Oxford’s Bet365 Hunt Cup in 39.43 (-15).
Meanwhile at Sunderland, it was one of Kid’s daughters, Coonough Crow, who showed similar resilience and no lack of ability to land the quickest heat of the ARC Grand Prix. Her winning time of 39.26 was 11 spots slower than her FOY time over C&D in 2023.
Droopys Doughnut was the quickest hound over Sheffield’s 500m course this week with a 28.68 run. But it is slightly overshadowed by kennelmate Droopys Supply with the quickest run in the opening round of the Bresbet Gymcrack. The August pup clocked 28.87.
The ladies are in action at Hove next Saturday in the Brighton Belle and a number were in action over this weekend. But they were overshadowed by Jason Heath’s Burrows Sapphire who popped up with the quickest 515 of the year to date, 30.04. It was a decent field too that included Never Say No, Cochise and Getup Me Lad to name but three.
Next Saturday also sees the start of the ARC Laurels from Perry Barr. Some of the biggest names in the sport trialled on Saturday but it was local champion Darley Diglake who impressed in race company with a 28.49 (-10) trialstakes win. If you had to pick one local to make it to the later stages, none would be better qualified than a dog with five wins and a short head second in his last six races over the Laurels course.
The third major event to get underway next weekend is the KAB Maiden Derby at Towcester. Sadly it was the lull before the storm with some fairly low key opens at the track this weekend. Quickest over the Derby course was Unreal Bruiser with a 29.31 run.
A very decent run from Droopys Flotilla on Monday at Nottingham. Yes, the track was +70, but it always is when the quickest times are recorded. Nevertheless, the near eight length win in 41.21 was over the year’s previous fastest over course and distance, Wolf Moon, with Ballyhimikin Mel back in third.
Nothing broke 29.00 at Newcastle this week. Closest to it was defending POW Delvin Cat who saw off an A1 at spot on that landmark, with going at -10. That’s three in a row for Steve Caile’s runner.
More gold type at Harlow too with Classy Turbo reeling off consecutive A2 wins; decent odds too, 7/2 for each of them.
There was a temptation to copy and paste Whisky Copper following his seventh win in his last nine outings at Valley. But how do you ignore the sprint track record from Tromora Rain. It may not last long though, the 15.79 was record on -05 going. It is actually an identical time to her last D1 win for the 270m at Towcester.
Last week, a 27.95 was good enough to see Droopys Suprstar finish top dog at Swindon with a 27.95 run. This week it was A1 winner Gurtnara Paddy with a 28.01 run.
On the last three occasions that Ballymac Frisby has been allowed to stretch his legs in Kinsley level break middle distance races, he has won the lot (A3, A3, A2). He has been less effective when switched to the 268m course. The litter brother of Irish star Ballymac Marino was allowed back over the 462m course in the week’s top graded race, A2, and duly did the business once again.
Monmore was running particularly fast on Tuesday when Howbinya Mos clocked the fastest time of the week (28.27) when winning an A2 by a short head. So we are going with A1 winner Saka Falcon following a 28.50 (N) run.
There were at least three options at Romford starting with Teaboy Brownie whose 13.53 was just three spots off the fastest 225 of the year. Then there was the match, with Ballymac Taylor narrowly beating Bubbly Taylor. There was never going to be much between them. But we’ve opted for Front Alice who returned from a three week lay-off to clock a quicker run than her Golden Sprint winning time.
Bettys Jack gained his revenge on Yahoo Megan when landing the £750 final at Suffolk Downs on Thursday. But he is demoted to ‘nearly dog’ this week by Clives Joy who set a new 220m track record of 13.27.
The open race interest has slowed up at Central Park following a couple of excellent Category One events. Best of the graders was Lostrigg Joel who saw off an A1 field in 29.72 (-10).
Most weeks we have a few judgement calls where the various sets of criteria clash with each other. So, apologies that Swift Regina didn’t get the nod on the basis of a 29.27 run over Doncaster’s 483m. She was only four spots off the fastest run of the year. However, on the same card, Ballymac Canter recorded the fastest sprint of the year, 16.69.
On April 6 2023 Wrighty was representing John Mullins in Judgement Night at Perry Barr. Saturday’s appearance in a Cat 3 competition at Yarmouth was less glamorous, though he did clock the fastest time of the year for the standard trip, 27.34.
There was also a FOY at Pelaw where Tromora Supreme won for the fourth time in his seven races to date and beat his own previous best by six spots with a 25.40 run.
Such has been the domination of Holloway hurdlers at Crayford that it has been impossible to ignore them. While Coppice Fox has repeatedly been acknowledged for this six bend prowess, Bouncy Doorman has made a fair effort over the four bend course. Sunday’s win completed a nine-timer.
