There are few open racers in training with more course and distance knowledge of the Crayford 714m trip than Burgess Hannah. When she went to traps for Saturday PGR Golden Jacket semis, her form card showed 16 races over the 714 metres, plus umpteen trials and races over the three other distances.

She had only ever broken the 23.50 mark three times: 24.46, 23.44 and 23.40 in a solo trial.

So when she bombed out and clocked 23.32 in a fabulous buckle with Minnie Bullet, a new PB was always likely. Even on going rated (+30), her 45.17 for the full course must rate as the best performance of her career, and this is a bitch who ran second to Bellmore Sally in last year’s Jacket semis (that 23.46 split) before going on to finish fifth in the final.

There was another hugely impressive performance from Links Maverick at Newcastle on Thursday. On going rated -10, the Heilbron runner produced his quickest time to date and extended his winning sequence to six in the fastest semi of the ARC Northern Puppy Derby. Another pup retaining her crown is Nathan Hunt’s Droopys Fidget with a 27.95 at Monmore. Remember she is an August whelp!

A busy week at Sheffield with opens on Tuesday and Saturday including a nice treble for ‘Distant’ littermates Brian (29.11-A2), Prince and Emma. But also an open race double for Nigel Saunders with ‘Acomb’ littermates Alfie and Irene. There is virtually nothing between his 29.21 for the 500 and her 27.52 for the 480, both on -20, but we’ve gone for Acomb Irene’s calculated 27.32 run (TR 27.25). That’s three wins and a second in her last four.

Chelms Champ landed last week’s Oxford nomination with a 27.03 run. On Friday, the 2021 Oaks finalist Droopys Samantha clocked an identical run to take over the slot.

Romeo Top Gun must be the unluckiest dog of the week in clocking 34.66 for Romford’s 575m and not being selected, though it was almost an impossible task to separate him and Gettoutamyway in the sprint. They were 11 and 10 spots respectively outside the track record. The tie-breaker was recent form with Mark Newberry’s dog having won 9 of his last 13 races.

Glengar Daisy appears to have settled down even smoother than trainer Michelle Brown since her switch from Romford to Suffolk Downs. Beaten in her last eight at London Road, where she had best winning form of 23.94, she landed an A1 on debut over the slightly shorter trip in 23.86 (-10). Meanwhile sister track Henlow only raced once this week due to a frozen track. But that was all Caseys Tommy needed to keep his crown. Last week’s 27.76 (N) A1 winner, clocked 28.30 (-60) to make it seven wins from his last nine outings.

At Nottingham, Crokers Brandy (who, coincidentally, beat Caseys Tommy in his last race in Ireland, at Galway) was made an odds-on favourite to retain his POW title and complete a four-timer. But he found one too good in Pat Doocey’s Longacres Bullet, who ironically clocked a slower calculated time than when he failed to get the nod last week.

Bullet was also on the mark at Perry Barr on Saturday when taking a 660 open in 40.27. But he is being overlooked in favour of Gerry Ballentine’s pup Noels Choice with his second consecutive open.

Towcester continue to fill their Sunday afternoon card with ‘opens’ though the overall quality has certainly dropped off in the last couple of weeks. So quickest of the week, even taking off the (+10) allowance was Reggie Allder’s A2 winner Your Kidding with a 29.47 run.

Doncaster’s 483m top heat was a bit all over the place this week with several of the big names absent and Trevilla Star’s 30.21 (-40), possibly the best of a mixed bunch. But a more obvious choice leaps out if we look at the 450m distance where Singalong Dovee completed a four timer in a smart 27.95 (-40). But with recent SPs of 2-5, 5-4, 8-13 and 4-7, she might just have outgraded herself.

Speaking of which, the Pelaw grader has had another pasting from Inniskeel Josie. The fastest hound over the 435m course in 2022, followed up her 25.60 run last week with a 25.48 on Sunday. That’s 10 wins, 2 x 2nds and a 3rd at the track since her arrival from Drumbo. Staying in the North East, the ex-Galway bitch Crafty Limato set a new personal best with a 27.39 win in A3 at Sunderland.

At Hove, there was also a very decent run from Stellas Fruity with a 29.78 (-30) run in A1. That is six wins in her last nine for the Richard Rees trained blue brindle. But you can’t really argue with the 29.63 (-20) for Kilara Show. That said, the strong running coloured dog, who has open winning form over six bends at Central Park, may not have been as inconvenienced by the slow going as some of the less powerful types.

Central Park and Swindon both failed to fill their opens this week but ran some decent A1s in their place. The Collett kennel was dominant at CP with impressive runs from Go By Thecommons and Lenson Doctor, both impressing over the standard and Diegos Ty over the sprint. But overall, they are all put into the shade by the 29.22 A1 winner Glenpadden Onyx, that’s four wins in his last five.

The Swindon A1 looked a great buckle between the Kibble pair Haverhill Lad (15-8f) and Ballymac Imo (2-1). Both led at some stage with Imo just getting up on the line for a short head victory.

Open racing did return to Harlow on Wednesday but, not unusually for the Essex track, the graders went quicker. While the opens were won in 26.97 and 27.14, the quickest run was produced by A5 winner, Private News. Her 26.68 was clocked on -40 going.

The opposite is usually true at Yarmouth where the fastest time of the week is invariably recorded in A1. Not so last week where Come Asyouare picked off the A1 in 27.86, but Kevin Cobbold’s Conna Cuckoo was 11 spots quicker in A2.

Kinsley also race over 462 metres though sub28.00 runs are a lot rarer. There was no A2 this week but four A3s up for grabs on Sunday of which Tip Top Rachel proved the quickest with a 28.03 run.