In his previous four races, he had been beaten at 1-4f, 1-2f, 4-5f and 2-5f, but on Monday night Droopys Expert reminded punters that when he gets is right, he is almost unbeatable.

Angela Harrison’s All England Cup winner went to traps at 2-5f over the Nottingham 500m course where he was the fastest greyhound in 2017 and produced an eight length victory in 29.28 (+20).

The quality of the performance can be judged against some of the great hounds to have graced Colwick Park since 2010 – better still if going allowances are taken into consideration.

29.16 (+10) Sawpit Sensation Head Bound No Joke Sherry Hunt 28/11/12
29.20 (+20) Swift Hoffman Makeshift Swift Erin Rosney 21/7/15
29.21 (+50) Ballymac Eske Burnpark Champ Burnpark Penske Draper 29/10/12
29.23 (+50) Eden The Kid Westmead Hawk Cabra Jade McNair 19/10/15
29.24 (+40) Droopys Buick Yeah Man Droopys Hilda Wright J 7/11/16
29.26 (+30) Newinn Yolo Crash Little Flutter Rosney 18/8/14
29.26 (+50) Droopys Expert Greenwell Hawk Droopys Rhiona Harrison 13/11/17
29.28 (+50) Ballymac Eske Burnpark Champ Ballymac Penske Draper 22/10/12
29.28 (+50) Sidarian Padre Vans Escalade Drive Ahead Lister 19/9/16
29.28 (+20) Droopys Expert Greenwell Hawk Droopys Rhiona Harrison 14/5/18
Simmonds 10 410 £4,425 16
Hayton 7 478 £3,500 13
Rosney 5 548 £3,500 13
Lister 5 496 £3,175 11
Denby 5 471 £2,175 8

The other outstanding performance on the night belonged to Phil Simmonds’ Newlawn Adam (Ballymac Vic-Gurrane Princess, Apr 15).

The 9-4 chance reminded Gymcrack winner Brinkleys Poet of the gulf in class when taking on seasoned open races in all-aged events when stretching his course and distance winning streak to four in 17.63 (+10).

With Simmonds, Jim Hayton and Angela Harrison all securing doubles on the night, the Nottingham open race trainer table now looks like this: