NOTTINGHAM MONDAY CARD – PREVIEWED BY MARK PIERREPONT

We get underway with an A4 at 6.26pm and the selection is a young pup making just his second career start.  Zoom Star for Lynn Cook has showcased massive early and middle pace in his qualifying trials and also on competitive debut here at Nottingham last Tuesday.  In fact despite being far from fluent at lid rise he still hit the line first time in a rapid 5.05 split.

Make no mistake this is a young greyhound who will regularly be seen breaking the 5 second barrier for the sectional and that sort of early pace is going to see him winning a lot of races.  After missing the kick a little on debut Star roared to the corner to hold a comfortable lead and as they headed along the back straight and into the third bend with a four-length lead on his nearest rival it looked a case of how far.  At this stage though the wheels fell off and they fell off badly as he fell back through the field to finish last beaten 5 1/2 lengths.

Now not for one minute do I believe that this greyhound is going to ever be strong in the latter stages but he was beaten a long way before he should have been for me and I’m taking a chance that he’ll improve massively for that blow out and can get off the mark here.  He looks another massively early paced type with a very similar profile to a greyhound who made my ten to follow list for 2021 in Waltham Blue Boy.

Although greyhounds of this profile will win races around Nottingham due to their early and middle pace they will never reach the heights that they should do unless campaigned regularly around the likes of Romford which should play ideally to their strengths.  We could well see the kennel enjoying huge success around the Essex venue over the summer months given the ever-increasing suitability of many of their runners to the venue.

Up one grade to A3 at 6.41pm and not a race I’d be wanting to get too heavily involved in.  Most of the field will need to lead to win but that can’t be said for Jason Gray’s Groovy Madam.  She will have to tread carefully for the majority of the race but could just get up when it really matters with the front runners coming back to her late on.  One to play small win and place.

We move up in grade again at 6.59pm to A2 class and the selection is Peter Harnden’s Salacres Tingle.  An extremely well-bred bitch purchased with a brood career in mind Tingle had gone a little off the boil but is just showing a few signs that a return to winning form isn’t too far away.  Tingle can ping out from her trap 2 berth here and if getting around the first bend in front she might just want some pegging back.

Down to A4 at 7.16pm and a big step down in class for Terry Munslow’s Goldsmith Teddy who looks to put behind him a losing run of seven.  Teddy has been running with credit in some good class A3 events and now steps down to what in reality is a moderate A4.  The drop in class is more generous than the one step down would suggest and he can prove far too good for his opposition.

An A2 at 7.34pm and Glenmore Phantom can provide Terry Munslow with a quickfire double.  He’s not won in six now but on most occasions recently he’s outrun his odds.  This would be his best chance in a while and he can turn handy to Anna Thompson’s rapidly improving pup Tickity Robyn before proving too strong for that rival heading into the third turn.

Peter Harnden’s home bred Salacresbenedict is a little inconsistent at lid rise but can take full advantage of a drop in class to A4 at 7.51pm with one of his better starts.  If he does make the bend in front then Benedict would subsequently prove very difficult to peg back.

Salacresfranklin drops to A5 at 8.06pm and can give Peter Harnden a treble on the night if all has previously gone to plan.  Franklin is an extremely well-bred type being a half-sister to the 2019 English Derby winner Priceless Blake.  She may not possess his kind of pace but she’s not shy of the winner’s enclosure when presented with an opportunity and if she can turn in a handy pitch here she can gain win number six on her 30th career start.

Salacres Pippy (8.21pm) has been held in high regard by Peter Harnden and his team for quite some time now and appears to have belatedly arrived into the consciousness of a wider audience after a couple of classy back running winning performances at Towcester over 712m in recent weeks.  Pippy appears to be developing a racing intelligence to accompany her undoubted pace just lately but given that she was competing for just the ninth time here in the UK when finishing a superb runner up to Smallmead in the St Leger Final in November last year maybe that kind of improvement was always on the cards.  Pippy will have to tread carefully around the first two bends but if doing so she can once again showcase her talents and complete the hattrick in the process.

Back to graded company for the eighth and final time of the evening with an A2 at 8.36pm.  Barry Denby’s Laois Hope was on the way to a career best performance when stopped in her tracks when challenging on the rail at the third bend last time out.  Though getting going again she was just touched off by Salacres Greegsy however was in front and clear not far after the finish line.  Given the make-up of this race she could well find the path much clearer on the inside this evening and can pick off her UK debut making kennel mate Willow Tree by the third turn.  That rival should be placed firmly in your notebooks however he looks another nice recruit for the Denby kennel and victory shouldn’t be too long in arriving.

Open racing all the way now with a 480m Trophy at 8.52pm which can go the way of Phil Barlow’s Ballydoyle Razor.  He’s a classy sort who massively out run his double figure odds of 14/1 when finishing second beaten just 2 1/4 lengths to Kevin Boon’s 2020 Oaks winner Ballymac Trend in the Juvenile last week at Towcester.  From a much more suitable draw in trap 3 this evening Razor can gain showcase his undoubted class and rates the best bet of the night.

Another 480m event at 9.11pm and though Roxholme Sheikh should emerge victorious he’s unlikely to represent any kind of value and will have to be right on his toes at the start given that he is sandwiched between early pace.  If he does lead round then he could turn this race into a procession but if he’s not fluent at the start then Peter Harnden’s strong running Winetavern Curly could come into matters late if the race gets messy upfront.