Not sure we’ve ever had a 50-1 chance pick up the Performance of the Week award, but fair play to Jim Reynolds’ Rising Coco. She started out in A6 at Crayford, has emerged as one of the track’s top 540 runners, and on Saturday landed a Kent St.Leger semi final with a gutsy, front running (and blocking) win over Bellmore Sally. Go girl!
Jim Daly’s ex-Crayford favourite Kicking King is enjoying a new lease of life at Suffolk Downs. The former hurdle open racer has three wins and three seconds in his last six outings and clocked the quickest time of the week over the standard trip, 24.11 (-30). While at sister track Henlow, Ray Turney’s home bred The Grafter, (his mum was a prolific 550m open winner for the kennel) clocked the fastest standard distance race of the year – on a track rated -20!
Emers Romeo did something similar for Central Park’s 480 metre standard when seeing off an open race field on Sunday night.
Last week’s return to racing saw Blackhouse Harry run creditably behind Killieford Defoe. With the rust shaken off, Stuart Ray’s pup (yes he is still only an August whelp) produced a highly impressive FOW, 28.41. While at sister track Sunderland there was another solid performance from Milldean Topaz. Of his 21 graded races at the track, 20 have been in A1, and his 27.35 win cemented a 33% strike rate.
No Nottingham opens in the last week which left an obvious graded candidate in Bellmore Rossi. Barry Denby’s A1 winner was the only sub 30.00 performer in the last seven days. Barry was also on the mark at Perry Barr on Thursday with Joes Jet beating the reigning POW Tasty Treat in 28.33. But we can’t ignore the 15.93 run from Crossfield Dusty in the sprint. There were only two sub 16.00 runs at the track last year (15.84 twice) and yes, they were Dusty too!. Meanwhile at Romford, the British bred former Newcastle grader Sonic Emjay clocked the fastest sprint of 2022.
Staying with the sprinters, Coolavanny Galiv was seven spots off his PB – the 280m track record – when landing a Tuesday night open at Owlerton. Meanwhile at neighbouring Doncaster there were FOY performances for sprinter Acomb Fatima (16.90) and six-bender Droopys Standout. But the real standout was Sean Parker’s Burnside Luther with the fastest 450m run in nearly four years. The British bred’s litter sister Barnside Millie is quickest over the 483m course in 2022.
On the same night, Sparta Master, just three months off his fifth birthday, went to within a length of the fastest 592 of the year at Harlow. During a fabulous career Sharon Thompson’s Romford 575m record breaker was won opens from 480-714m on eight different tracks.
Outstanding staying performances were a bit thin on the ground this week. Faced with a lack of six bend opens at Swindon, the second fastest hound over the 682 metre trip, Bluejig Turbo, switched back to four bends and saw off the cream of the A1 runners in 28.05 (the fifth fastest 476 metre run this year).
Jaguar Macie won the first of her three Category One finals in the 2021 Midland Puppy Derby. She returned to Monmore on Saturday to tweak her English Derby preparation with a 28.33 (-30) Cat Three final win. (Great to see Bo Shine Bullet make a return to racing after a seven month lay-off)
Yarmouth staged four A1s last week, but only one A1* (it will be the one with Montrose, Gracias Lorenzo, Lakeview Floyd or Dominance in it). Two of that quartet contested Wednesday’s race but were turned over in ‘trap to line’ style by Andrew Wilson’s 6-1 shot Drumdoit Lucy. It was the fastest time of the week – obvs!
If you were looking for a Hove equivalent it would be Doorus Jet. Derek Knight’s dog has been prolific in the premium A1s with 29.19 and 29.20 on his card. He was a bit back on that with a 29.40 (-10) run, but none went quicker this week.
It is the lull before the storm at Towcester with graded runners making most of their opportunities. But the performance of the week was arguably the D1 sprint win of Steve Rayner’s Nutty Gem in 15.75 (FOY is Crossfield Dusty’s15.54). A very decent run for primarily a middle distance bitch returning to full fitness after a lay-off.
Last week we reported how Daves Missile had repaid the Kinsley grader for his drop to A3 by clocking a very respectable 27.76. He was invited to repeat the trick back in A2 this week but found Gortroe Rainbow a bit to hot to handle.
Possibly the most obvious selection of the week was Pelaw’s Liffeyside Patsy whose 25.79 was 55 spots quicker than any other winner.