A former A4 grader is the most striking entry of the Gain Greyhound Nutrition 3 Steps To Victory first round which takes place at Sheffield on Tuesday.
Candy Man was beaten at even money in his first Owlerton A4 back in February. But he got it right second time out and clocked 28.74 for the 500m next time out. He reached the Laurels final in impressive style though it was arguably his 29.26 run over the Towcester Derby course that really demonstrated his fabulous ability.
The Carol Weatherall runner has trialed in a flying 27.68 for Sheffield’s 480m course, which he will tackle again on Tuesday.
Sheffield racing manager Andy Mascarenhas said: “Yes, I gather he had a nice A4 win before my time here and he is the fancy of a couple of people in the office. It was a very good 480 trial and given the seedings, he would be likely to get his box as the competition progressed.
“Personally I also like Heathlawn Lemon. I think Jason Bloomfield has been very clever how he has prepared his dog for all distances and I think he could do well. You would also have to look at Bombardier who is Mark Wallis’ only entry.
“We had a good entry for the event, either 47 or 48 entries, and I apologise to those who we had to leave out. In at least a couple of cases it was due to dogs have very decent form, but without actually having won a race. When it was a tight call, I also tended to favour dogs with proven six bend form.”
The Gain Greyhound Nutrition 3 Steps To Victory will see the first three progress to the 500m second round on August 31 with the £10K to winner final, over the 660m course one week later.
The event was won in emphatic style last year by 4-9f Roxholme Kristof who set a new 480m track record (27.27) in the first round.
