By Mark Pierrepont

It is not very often that a pre-meeting trial session holds as much interest if not more so than the meeting itself. That is the case at Nottingham tonight though as four of next week’s RPGTV Select Stakes accepters are put through their paces.

Pat Rosney’s The Other Reg is first up, he was awesome when winning the RPGTV Scottish Derby recently. He is followed by Brendan Matthews’ Irish raider Innocent Times. A winner of his second and third round heats in the Star Sports English Greyhound Derby at Towcester, he finished second in the quarters before being eliminated at the semi-final stage. He then came back on final night to win a high class division A of the Star Sports Invitation.

Next up is another Irish raider, this time from the kennel of Peter Cronin in the shape of Whoops Jack.

WHOOPS JACK Photo: © Steve Nash

A winner in the first and second round heats of the Star Sports English Derby, he also won his semi-final before being beaten in the decider behind Select Stakes favourite Dorotas Wildcat. Cronin is on record as saying he is a much more relaxed dog this year and, if trapping on terms, he has pace to the third bend that few can live with.

The Matt Dartnall trained Brinkleys Poet is next up. A finalist in the Ladbrokes Puppy Derby at Monmore this year, he then went unbeaten through the Betfred Gymcrack at Kinsley where he set a track record in the final. He added another clock to his collection when winning the Ladbrokes Sprint Trophy Final at Crayford at the end of May. Although beaten here in a minor final last time out, he showed guts that should serve him well in future competitions.

With all four trialing in consecutive solos, there should be clues galore ahead of next week’s RPGTV Select Stakes. Bull Run Button is also on the card to trial and it will be interesting to see what sort of time she puts up. I personally thought she was unlucky not to claim the final spot in the Select Stakes, though in fairness the final acceptance spot was a tough one to call with a few dogs having fair arguments for taking it. The remainder of the trial card is hardly what you would call shabby either so it will be worth getting to the track for around 5.15 in order to get a few clues for next week.

The RPGTV Sprint Trophy gets underway at 7.37, and heat one looks, on paper at least, to be a showdown between Fridays Zeus in three and Newlawn Adam (NAP) drawn in four. No doubting that Adam is the better drawn of the pair and, having comfortably beaten Zeus on their last two meetings, I see no reason to oppose Phil Simmonds’ dog. He loves it around here and is sure to take a lot of beating. He will be priced accordingly but looks a solid bet.

The RPGTV 480m Trophy gets underway at 8.07 and I am going for a bitch that does not win very often, in fact she has not won in her last 20 races, albeit running regularly in good company. This race would not be of the class that some of her races have been and, from what could be a decent draw out in trap six in a race that could potentially get messy, I will take a chance with the Jim Hayton trained Lowgate Ginny (TREBLE). Jim Hayton often comes up with winners at big odds and, hopefully, Ginny can be another.

In heat two at 8.22 I fancy that Adrian McPherson’s Galloway Girl (NEXT BEST) can make every post a winning one. There is a serious lack of early pace in this race and, from what looks a plot draw out in trap six, she can continue the excellent form of her trainer since his arrival at Nottingham recently. David Pruhs looks to have the main danger in the shape of Sensual running from trap one. She has been running well but lacks a look around here and could be looking to peg back some strong runners from a poor position come halfway.