“If he comes out he could go on and win it easily, but 8-11f from that draw doesn’t strike me as great value.”
Track boss Ian Walton is looking forward to a great night of racing for next Thursday’s ‘night of the year’ at Newcastle where the feature race is the Alconex All England Cup Final.
Following his victory in the hugely competitive second semi final, the layers have made Jimmy Fenwick’s local hero Ice On Fire an odds-on shot to make it win 11 from 14 outings. While he remains Walton’s selection, he thinks the betting market is unbalanced.
He said: “If Ice On Fire can come away with another 3.53 sectional, I can see him leading up and not being caught. But trap one is a very different proposition from trap three. He has only been beaten three times in his career, twice when he was drawn one, and once when he was in six. To be fair, in one of those defeats from red, he did break well and was just caught by a short head on the line. But 8-11?
“It is a high quality final and if Nadurra Dutch traps like he did in the first round, and Jimmy’s dog misses his break slightly, the 8-1 would be huge value. I think the two, four and six are ideally drawn and the race is a lot more open than the betting suggests.
“Overall, it has been an excellent competition and there have been some top class hounds who haven’t made it to the final. On behalf of the track, I would like to thank Steve Anderson and the other sponsors for supporting us.
“I am expecting a big crowd next Thursday. There will be a lot going on with be a band playing after racing. It should be a great night.”
Betting 8-11 Ice On Fire, 10-3 Roxholme Jim, 8-1 Nadurra Dutch, Payyaway Kane, 20-1 Gazilly Shay, 25-1 Grogeen Country
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