Hawkfield Ozark landed Patrick Janssens fourth Category One final of the year and his 28th since taking out his trainer’s licence back in 2016. (Barricane Tiger was the first in the Sussex Cup).
But the party was almost ruined by former resident Goldies Perryman . . . .
Patrick said: “I’ve always known how fast Perryman is. I paid £10K for him after one sub18 second sprint trial at Tralee on the basis of his potential and breeding; his dam is a sister to Burgess Bucks. But there were a couple of times when he didn’t win when I thought he should and we moved him on.
There was some pretty sensational tipping from Racing Manager Martin Seal – not for the first time. Ten selections, seven winners, two seconds from his preview notes on this website.
“As for Hawkfield Ozark, he is just a born winner and so incredibly consistent. His record since he joined us is out of this world. (14 races, 9 wins, 4 2nds). He was whelped down Gerry Connors but then I believe was reared on by the McGee family and then Jamie trained him, followed by Keeley.
“Realistically, the 480 is as far as he wants, he would have been the perfect Wimbledon 460 dog. He can’t win a Derby, a bit like Coolavanny Shado, but there are plenty of opportunities after including the Pall Mall, the Birmingham Cup at Perry Barr, the Gold Cup at Monmore and the East Anglian Derby. We will try to split the competitions where possible.”
Patrick was also keen to acknowledge the efforts of ARC in their staging of the final.
He said: “Some people don’t want to hear this, because they have issues with ARC or Rachel Corden, but I really don’t care what they think.
“Once again, the meeting they put on was exceptional. We had a massive downpour before racing and I said to RM Martin Seal that I didn’t want to put my trialists around. Martin just said, ‘leave it with me.’
“They had people on the track getting it in fabulous order, they cleared all the water from the hare rail. It was impeccable, just as we have come to expect at Perry Barr and all the ARC tracks.
“It was a fabulous night for the owners, well looked after by the stadium, with a nice trophy and jacket. I don’t really know Rachel Corden but I spoke to her on Judgement Night and thanked her for staging it.
“She is doing a great job whether people want to hear it or not.”
If Team Janssens was a machine, it will have slipped from fourth to fifth gear this week.
On Thursday, a number of the team were put through their paces.
They included the no.1 string 28.99 Towcester winner Romeo Command who continued his return to fitness with a 15.81 for the sprint.
The 34.78 (575) Romford winner Romeo Top Gun was making his first four bend following lameness.
Triple Cat One winner Fabulous Azurra – withdrawn by the Hove vet, much to Patrick’s irritation – came off sound after a 29.61 spin.
Patrick said: “I was pleased with the times. The track was in very good condition, though I did think it was possibly slightly slow.”
There was also a sighting of some of the kennel’s new arrivals.
Bet Shop Boy (Droopys Sydney-Limini, Jul 21) with one race on his card, a 16 length 28.65 win at Shelbourne for Dan Daley.
Plus the even younger Blue Mustang and Saka Falcon.
Patrick said: “They are both too young for the Derby. I was hoping to put them in the puppy competition that was planned for Towcester after the Derby, but so far it isn’t in the Calendar.”
Oaks/Eclipse winner Slick Sakina heads the Janssens strike force at Romford for their fabulous £500 Coronation opens. She is joined by Global Prima, Hawkfield Mia and Romeo litter brothers Turbo and Salvo.
Patrick said: “Sakina and Prima are both coming back from season and at the stage, I like to bring them back at Romford as a gradual reintroduction. Hopefully they will both go for the Derby.”
Last but not least, a mention for Charming Girl (Ballymac Kingdom-Affleck Courage, May 21). She won just the second race of her life at Towcester on Sunday in 29.31.
Girl was bred in Holland by Ronnie Scheepers, who runs the Geldrop track.
Patrick said: “We had the dam, who ran over the 480 at the old Towcester. I sent her out to Ronnie and she produced Charming Girl. Because of the winter shut down, she never raced in Holland. In fact, she hadn’t even seen an outside hare when she came here so she has done remarkably well.”
