FLOOD TOPS ‘FROM HALFWAY’ CHART

Jelly Flood might seem a surprising choice to head the table for the Derby second round timings from halfway (as compiled by Mark Pierrepont) – though he shouldn’t be.

Pete Swadden’s strong finisher, who is a litter brother to Slippy Maggie and Maysthistlecrack, has qualified off 5.25 and 5.28 sectionals, so he certainly wasn’t relying on early pace.

He was actually six spots slower this week than his first round equivalent, though even then he was joint second on the table, with Lemon Ronald, behind Skywalker Logan.

In fact, this week’s times are generally a little slower. For example, this week Flood was the only runner to break 14.60, last week nine greyhounds bettered that mark.

Overall, 57 of the 89 greyhounds on the chart – some couldn’t be assessed – were slower this week than last.

It is of course very difficult to weigh up comparative times between the two runs without taking into account ‘trouble in running.’

But some judges might find a few interesting snippets in there. What about Magical Bale who improved 28 spots despite the slower track?

Or King Sheeran who was outrun in the latter stages by Lemon Shane in his first race in nine months, but went as quick as Droopys Verve next time out.