We are used to pressure to win big races, and although it shouldn’t really affect anything, I admit it does seem a bit stronger when you have the odds-on favourite as we do with Patchys Kerry in the Ladbrokes Golden Jacket Final on Tuesday. We also have the pressure of trying to be the first ante post favourite ever to win the event at Crayford.
But she is bang in form, and although she has won her heats from middle draws, I wouldn’t swap traps if I had a choice. She certainly ran well enough from red in the Champion Stakes.
The only concern I might have is the going. With the weather so cold, the track will have to be prepared against frost and that can sometimes create a bias. I’ll certainly be looking at the results prior to the big race.
We have six runners on the night including Swift Whirlwind who is going for the Bussey Memorial. We have won the last four with Aero Joker, Bridge Bandit, Jimmy Nailed On and Aayamzamodel who will be having her last race tomorrow.
I don’t know why it has been such a lucky competition for us. We don’t target it but send runners along with our Golden Jacket entries and I guess we’ve had the right sort of dogs to win it.
It would have been nice to have done better in the Chelsea Glass Trainers Championship, but the result really didn’t come as a shock.
Kevin (Hutton) had a very good team of dogs, he took a great deal of care in the selection and preparation, and, I think he would admit himself, overall, was pretty lucky in the draws.
As I have said before, I really hope the event can be switched around again and not miss out on the trainers who finished in the top six. The event is too important not to give it priority treatment and hopefully it can be the Midlands or North next year.
Having said all of that, I thought some of the racing was top class. Our best runner on the night was Ballymac Shirley who beat a very good field in the fastest time of the night.
Seven of the eight came off sound, or with just minor tweaks, the exception was Garryglass Pixie who ripped open a web. Ilewin Allot ran his last race and only missed out on a first three place in a photo finish. He is now enjoying a well earned retirement.
The competitions are coming thick and fast. First up is the Coral Golden Sprint where I plan to run Evanta Fantasy. She was favourite to win it last year but was KO’d in the first round. She is obviously a year older and may have lost a bit of her searing pace, but she has certainly developed a racing brain.
We have Calco Flyer and Domino Storm in mind for the Calne Racing Arc. Flyer made the final last year; Storm went out in the semis but ran a stormer on final night.
We are also hoping to have four entries in the Ladbrokes Puppy Derby. They are the four who are in the Trialstakes this week.
I don’t know whether we have a potential winner in there, they all have to find time to be considered serious players, but in the longer term I think you will see them grow and develop.
The four, Experto Crede, Rubys Rascal, Mass Megan and Tellhimjohn have all come through the ranks at Towcester. It is a great track for young dogs to learn their craft. A good example is Parkers Prince (Kinloch Brae-Swift Venom, Jul 14) who has won four of his eight races so far, and at decent prices, most recently 5-1 and 7-1.
We also have a nice 38kg young sprinter called Ela Ela Genie (Brett Lee-Ballymac Eugenie, May 14) who has won his last two D1s.
But I suppose the track favourite at the moment has to be Aero Harrison.
It is his racing style that thrills the Towcester punters so much. He comes from 15 lengths off the pace to do a ‘Scurlogue’ every time he runs.
The interesting story about Harrison is that he broke his hock when he had his first handslip at Yarmouth and was never expected to get to the track. Vet Stefano Maligori did an amazing job but Harrison was three years and three months old before he made his debut.
He was beaten in his first 10 races at the track but has come into form now and has won four of his last seven S1s and has improved a full second.
Finally we are quite excited about a dog called Saffrons Boxer who is running for the Mark Wallis Racing Club.
He made his debut at Romford last week and was just beaten in a maiden.
He is older than most dogs that we bring into the kennel but has very good form in Ireland, including 18.76 and 28.40 form at Shelbourne Park under the name of Ivyhill Boxer.
We really wanted a high profile dog in the racing club for this year’s Derby.
