With the Arena Racing Company Springbok due to start in less than two months time, Central Park RM Rob Killingbeck is concerned about entries.
The novice hurdle event is worth £5,000 to the winner and is followed immediately afterwards by the Grand National but there have been virtually no hurdle trials in recent weeks.
Rob said: “Tony Collett has one hopeful. There is talk that Barrie O’Sullivan might have a small string, we’ve had enquiries from a Sheffield trainer, and apparently David Mullins might have a possible runner, but as things stand it could be the ‘Ricky Holloway Springbok’ and even he won’t have enough dogs to fill it.”
ARC policy is that all greyhounds must previously have trialed or raced at the track. However, for the Springbok, there are additional conditions. 1) No greyhound will be accepted for entry unless it has previously trialed over the Central Park hurdle course. 2) No greyhound will be allowed to trial for the Springbok unless it has completed a satisfactory hurdle trial at any GBGB licensed track prior to February 14.
Rob added: “We can offer trials on Tuesday or Thursday, before or after racing, but we would need a week’s notice with so many local dogs needing the trial spaces.”
Open race followers will have noticed the return of 450 metre opens to the track last Sunday. The first was won by Ragtime Star.
Going forward, the grader is hoping to have graded 450s on the card ASAP. So why did they disappear?
Rob said: “The traps fell into bad disrepair when Roger was hear so weren’t used. ARC have paid for them to be completely refitted and they look banging now.
“Like a lot of tracks, we’ve had more sprints than I would want in recent months. I don’t want dogs moving down from 480, I want to see more moving up from the sprint.
“As soon as we have a dozen or so qualified, I’ll be keen to grade a couple; they provide greater variety for the regulars and for the TV viewers.”
Central Park welcome a new trainer in Alfie Herbert, son of former coursing trainer Neil Herbert to the graded strength.
Rob said: “Alfie is trialing half a dozen in this Monday and plans to increase to about a dozen. Ideally we could still do with a few more dogs. We are not the only track reliant on opens to keep things ticking over.
“In an ideal world, it would be good to have another trainer with 30-40 dogs available but they just aren’t around. Most trainers are under contract so it is a situation that we deal with.”
