We have been lucky enough to win three St.Legers in the last seven years, but nobody will be more surprised than me if we make it four in a couple of weeks time.
We have five runners, all very decent greyhounds, who I would expect to see in the next round, but are they good enough to win the competition? Not on all known form.
Jimmy Nailed On looks the best of our runners. I though he ran really well at Newcastle, though this is a tough 687 metres and probably at the edge of his range.
Ribble Atom, who ran very well in the marathon at Newcastle is back over a shorter distance but her stamina may come in useful if she keeps progressing.
Black Francis is just returning after a break and should go better in the next round if he gets through. Sosaidhs Blue and Parkers Poison are two of the best stayers at Towcester and deserve their chance.
It was great to see Billys Bullet come off sound after his sprint trial at Towcester on Wednesday.
He clocked 15.85 for the 260 metres (fastest of the day was 15.47) and he showed no ill effects on the day.
He was a little sore this morning, though that is entirely to be expected with a dog who has been off for so long and is part of the healing process.
He’ll have another sprint next week and we will gradually ease him up to four bends.
Adageo Bob (15.60) also came off sound after a short break. We have begun the build-up to the Essex Vase which will hopefully be his swansong.
Things are comparatively quiet on the open race scene but life is always interesting with so many young dogs beginning their careers.
Every time you go racing, you always hope that one of the youngsters will develop into something special.
I possibly had a glimpse of potential with a young bitch called Calco Swift (Godsend-Swift Silver, May ’14) at Towcester. She only won an A7 but showed tremendous finishing pace.
We’ve been there before with greyhounds like Hometown Honey, who then kick on to have great staying careers.
Another youngster to look out for is called Airforce Joe (Top Honcho-Air Force Ellie, Dec 13).
He is a magnificent looking dog of around 38 kilos and is due to make his racing debut at Towcester on Friday.
There is no doubt that the quality of racing at Towcester is getting better and better.
Now that the track running better than ever, the opens are starting to fill and gives me the opportunity to concentrate on running there.
I will still travel for big competitions, but I have 36 runners this weekend and it means I won’t be traipsing around the country for one-off opens.
I won’t be entering anything for next Tuesday’s SKY card but hope to be back at Nottingham for the Eclipse. I also plan to have runners in the Crayford Gold Collar. It is worth £6,000 to the winner. It’s a pity it isn’t a ‘Cat 1’.
Before then there is an inter-track commitment at Peterborough. Towcester have been good to me and its to support them in return.
