There are 12 miles between Perry Barr in North Birmingham and Monmore in the Black Country and punters face an absolute dilemma on Saturday night writes Floyd Amphlett.

Although Perry Barr are staging the semi finals of the RPGTV St.Leger, with supporting card, there is a strong argument to suggest that Monmore has even even stronger hand with a stunning night of 14 ‘festival’ events.

It took a while for these Monmore cards to build, but in terms of overall quality they are now better than many ‘final nights’. In addition to the multiple Cat 1 winners, King Turbo, Droopys Live, Bockos Doomie, Velvet Juliet plus various Cat 2 winners on show on Saturday, there will be huge interests in the younger dogs.

The Ladbrokes Trafalgar Cup might only be worth £2,500 to the winner but it promises a field as strong as the £12,500 Midland Puppy Derby.

There are a string of hugely exciting but comparatively unknown youngsters on show on Saturday. In fact, when the final field are assembled next April, you can be sure that Saturday November 9 will feature in the form of some of the major contenders.

The full form for all 14 races is featured below.

 

Regular readers may recall the recent story of Monmore’s Roxhill Mystique who was off the track for eight months with a serious double injury, but was nurtured back to full fitness to win top grade in her second race back.

Well the latest resident to be wheeled out of Paul Sallis and Esther Driver’s rehab centre is Bloos Diego Hope. He was crocked in May, made his return to racing last Thursday and romped up in A1 company. Anyone with a bad back should call . . . . .

 

Karen and Scott

Also mentioned last week was Kranky Scott who was one race away from his double century.

He signed off in great form with a runner-up spot – his last 10 races included three wins and four seconds.

Pam Burford’s dog was paraded by Karen Clee, the track’s paddock steward, who walked the veteran for his first race five years ago.

Jo Till, Commercial Manager at the Ladbrokes track, said: “What a way to mark Kranky’s 200th race, Karen was parader here in April 2015 when Pam’s dog made his debut. They’ve been friends ever since!”

A winner of 26 races during a fantastic career at the Wolverhampton circuit, Kranky Scott has been a much-loved grader, starting out in A7 and reaching A4 at one stage.

“He’s been a popular dog here for many years and almost signed off with a victory given he finished second in what will be his final race. He’s now set for retirement at the home and kennels of his trainer Pam Burford.”