An already crowded open calendar just became more so as Newcastle announced a new Category Two four-bend competition that is being shoehorned in between the Scottish Derby and the Arc writes John Forbes.
The Pinpoint Recruitment Healthcare Stakes will be over 480 metres and the first round will be on Saturday, April 28, just three days after Shawfield’s showpiece and the night before the decider of the Swindon feature event, with the final live on Sky on May 5.
Newcastle Operations Manager Ian Walton acknowledges that the situation is far from ideal, but explained that they had no options, saying: “When the Sky dates were being decided we did ask for a later date, but in the end we had to take what we were given. Alan Findlay, who is sponsoring our competition, is putting up good prizemoney for just two runs and I am confident that we will have no problems filling it, particularly as it will be an option for greyhounds knocked out in the early stages of the other two events.”
Running in tandem with that event will be the Jimmy Roberts Memorial Maiden. Another over the 480 metres, this one is for greyhounds that have not won an open in this country and the first prize will be £1,000.
