There could be a couple of cases of deja vu (or shots at redemption) at Towcester in the next couple of months. Next Tuesday sees the start of the TV Trophy trialstakes at Towcester with the event itself getting underway over the 906 metre course on Saturday July 23. The final is Wednesday August 3.
It should see a return clash between last year’s winner and track record holder Ballymac Bonnie, who recently ran a fast-finishing second in the Barrys Tea 750 at Cork, and the all conquering Roxholme Magic who was eliminated as a 4-9 shot behind Bonnie in last year’s semi finals.
The marathon will be followed on August 13, 20 and 27th by the second running of the bitch’s-only Lowther Stakes for which track record holder Forest Twilight is due to defend her crowd, almost certainly against former track record holder Domino Storm who finished sixth in last year’s final.
Assistant trainer Mark Keightley confirmed this week that all is going well with Twilight’s rehab following TFL/gracilis injuries. She has come off sound following two sprint trials at Monmore and the Lowther is her target.
Towcester Racing Manager Chris Page said: “Mark Lowther had hoped to run a £10K competition for bitch puppies alongside the Lowther Stakes but was blocked from doing so by the GBGB due to a clash with Nottingham. Mark is a great sponsor who has a particular interest in the bitches races and we may still run an event for the pups as a £5,000 one-off.”
One of the interesting local runners in the TV Trophy could be Pennys Assault, jointly owned by racehorse trainer Tom George.
Page said: “He is S2 and hasn’t won that many but he looks as though he needs further so we may see him in a trialstake. We have a quite a few owners with horse racing connections starting to build. We also have a dog trialling in, Mustang Alex, who owned by footballer Charlie Austin.”
Page has been delighted with the introduction of the new 500m course. There have been seven races staged over the new trip to date, of which Mossvale Ace’s 29.24 has been the fastest.
Page said: “It is 75 metres to the bend compared to the 55 for the 480 and it allows the dogs, particularly the pups, a bit more room to sort themselves out. At the moment, there appears to be about a second between the 480 and 500m times, though that wouldn’t really reflect in the 480m track record (27.59), as that was just an incredible run.”
The track are now working with homefinders Kevin and Mandy Stow at Lincolnshire Homefinders, but are also exploring options for a homing scheme at Springhill Open Prison. Page said: “It is still being discussed but I know that Lord Hesketh is very keen on the idea and the feedback is good so hopefully we will have something more concrete to report in the near future.”
Chris Page has defended his grading policy which means that in some weeks more than 100 dogs are going without a race.
He said: “We had a few problems when our strength dipped to around 170 dogs and we had to do something about it. Our trainers rallied around and we are now up to 400 dogs, which is great for options, but I do understand the problems for our trainers. It has come about by trainers increasing their numbers of runners, in some cases doubling them. We have actually reduced the number of trainers to 23 and we have 16 on the waiting list.
“We are doing what we can to keep the owners happy; ideally we would like to hold another meeting, but that has to be commercially viable. In the meantime, we are putting on extra races on a Saturday night and plan to hold some more eight-runner races when we get the bigger traps back.”
Towcester has its first 2015 whelps on the track, and they look to have plenty of wins in them. Brother and sister Sujo Warrior and Steely Passion (Tullymurry Act-Steely Passion, Jan 15) have had one race apiece for Matt Dartnall. Warrior looks the quickest having qualified in a very decent 28.63.
Patchys Kerry – pic Steve Nash
Local heroine Patchys Kerry continued with her return from a short break with a 28.19 480m trial before racing on Tuesday. Her trial and sectionals were both fastest of the night. Mark Wallis’ is being prepared for a tilt at a third category one title of the year in the William Hill Grand Prix at Sunderland.
