Final night is here. The first category one competitions of the year at Hove conclude on Saturday. The remaining six greyhounds in the Coral Sussex Cup and Coral Regency finals battle it out for their name on the trophy and £10,000 winners cheque for connections. Along with the two showpiece finals we have three supporting finals for our enjoyment. The Seasons Scaffolding Puppy Cup and Crawley Trophies Bitches Cup both over 500 metres conclude as well as the graded sweepstake final. That leaves seven opens for us to enjoy and with the likes of the English Greyhound Derby winner among them we are in for a treat. For our enjoyment I have endeavoured to find out more about four greyhounds on the supporting card.
Fire Spark for Crayford trainer Dave Lee makes his Hove and two bend race debut in the Coral Sprint Trophy at 6.28pm over 285 metres. The son of Pat C Sabbath and Maldinis Fancy has had all of his eleven races at home track Crayford over 380 metres winning two in an A2 graded race and an open race. He clearly has early and the drop to two bends could prove beneficial for him. He has had one trial at Hove over 500 metres back in April. On that occasion he clocked a calculated time of 29.83 but more importantly did a good split time of 3.57.
Dave on him said: “He’s got a bit of pace but not really got enough early as a sprinter. At a track like Hove he might get away with it and get to the first bend in front. If he gets a run around the first bend he has a decent chance.
“He has done some good times at Crayford clocking around 23.20 a few times. He’s a good dog. Times are one thing though, it’s about doing it against the other five that counts.
“He had a trial over 500 metres at Hove for the Track Championship. The time wasn’t that good; the distance may have caught him out a bit. He did show reasonable early which is why we have decoded to give him a go over the sprint trip.
“Were not worried about the draw [trap 4], it’s where he wants to be.
With Aayamza Royale vying to win the Coral Regency, her absence in the Coral Marathon over 955 metres has made it wide open. Ragtime Darcie trained by Theresa Dornan will be looking to capitalise from her absence. The January ’19 whelp has plenty of experience at Hove with all but one of her fifteen races at the Sussex track. That one race away from Hove was at Crayford over 874 metres where she finished fifth. The daughter of Over Limit and Soho Ark won her first race recently with a win over 695 metres in S2 graded company. Longer trips could be where her future lies.
Theresa on her said: “She will get the distance. I’ll be surprised if she didn’t. She ran over 874 metres at Crayford and wasn’t stopping while running with the pack.
“She is a bit one paced and whether she can live with a big step up in class remains to be seen. It will be interesting to see what she can but it is a big step up in class for her.
“When we got her, Kennedy who we got her from said ‘she is one paced and will stay all day long’. That’s what he told us and he has proved to be right.
“She has trap five and that is fine for her. She tends to run everywhere at some point.”
Followers of the sprint scene last year will know all about Loggies Lito. Trained by Towcester’s Simon Harms, the sprint specialist won the National Sprint over 305 metres at Nottingham last December. The son of Droopys Jet and Ballymac Galtee also won on Derby Final night last year again at Nottingham over 305 metres. The July ’18 whelp has only had one race this year which was at Central Park back in March where he finished last. Tonight, his comeback continues as he looks to win the Coral Sprint Trophy over 285 metres at 7.56pm. In a recent trial over C&D he clocked a time of 16.31 which shows all is well.
Simon on him said: “If he turns up, he can match anything. We just want to see him get round and come off sound though. We have had problems with him. We brought him back and he had his problems again. We have it sorted now and he is sound. I wouldn’t race him if he wasn’t 100%.
“We gave him a look around Hove and he looked good. He pretty much missed his break and still did a very good time.
“We are hopeful. He did his best trial since the start of the year. He loved Hove and the track suits him like Nottingham does. We are really pleased with him; we love this dog.
“He has trap four and that is perfect for him.”
Thorn Falcon does not need an introduction. The English Derby winner is back in action after claiming the showpiece competition at Towcester three weeks ago. The February ’18 whelp is back in action in the Bockos Doomie Memorial Invitation over 515 metres at 8.38pm. Trained by Patrick Janssens who also trained Bockos Doomie it will be a fitting win for the kennel to take the spoils. In a recent trial over C&D he clocked a calculated time of 30.10 and will be expected to improve on that for his first race around the Sussex venue.
Patrick on him said: “The going seemed a lot slower early on then it was given. He did run the track well. Trap four is not ideal for him but he runs fairly straight to the bend and hopefully will get to the bend in front.
“It is a good race but he has won the Derby and should be good enough. He is learning all the time and it will be interesting to see him from another trap draw he hasn’t run from before to see how he gets on. We did trial him once from trap three at Towcester to see where he wanted to run and did turn right a bit.
“We wanted to be in this race. It is very nice of Hove to put this race on for Bockos Doomie. We will see how he goes.”
