Doncaster racing manager Stephen Gray was philosophical at Doncaster only filling six of their first ten Saturday afternoon opens. But punters will be delighted that one of the most popular dogs of his era – Hiya Butt – will be one of the 36 opens racers on view.
Hayley Keitghley’s double Derby finalist goes in one of the sprint heats. Both the sprint and the puppy event only attracted 12 of the 18 runners, though two additional supporting opens also filled. Entries came from as far afield as Shawfield and Henlow.
Gray said: “It is disappointing that you can’t get 18 runners for a £1,000 event, but I guess that says more about the state that the industry is in, rather than any slight on Doncaster. Most tracks are struggling to fill their opens with genuine open racers, and when you consider that they can’t even fill the Easter Cup. . .
“Overall, it is only our first week and we will monitor how it goes. We know that most tracks race on a Saturday night, but we still considered the afternoons to be our best options. The Monday nights, which held us in good stead for a long time, became a wash-out, and who could get here from any distance away for kennelling on a Sunday morning?
“We carefully considered the format and hopefully trainers will see the one-offs staged a week before the competitions start as a chance to try their runners here without having to come for a trial.
“We don’t know if this will be a popular fixture with trainers but we are committed for the next four weeks and then review the situation.”
Saturday February 24 will feature 18 runners for bitches and a 661m stayers event, plus trialstakes for a ‘standard 483’ and a ‘British bred 483’
