PERFORMANCE OF THE WEEK

Proof that the new Towcester circuit will be a tough 500 metres was provided by the winner of the first race there is three years as Romford track record holder Sparta Master dominated the invitation race in 29.20 (+30).

If you had to nominate a alternative performance of the week, you could do worse than going with Tommys Panther following an exceptional 28.70 run at Central Park last Tuesday. As a challenger, the Crayford nomination couldn’t have been clearer with Trade Joey recording the fastest 380 of the year.

John Mullins had a treble on Monday night at Yarmouth. Notouttheway was not the quickest, but not far off and still way short of his second birthday. On the subject of pups, Knotmor Max produced the fastest standard distance run since the break at Kinsley while another youngster, Easy Stuff, produced the performance of the week at Sunderland.

Romford’s Friday night opens have been missed, though Troy Firebird produced a graded run last week that would have graced any open race card.

On the subject of opens, we can surely expect Fosburys Jump to feature among the entries for the forthcoming Coral Sussex Cup, based on his win at Hove on Saturday night.

Monmore’s Ballydoyle Blake was a Ladbrokes Puppy Derby semi finalist but continues to improve and was an impressive A1 winner on -30 going on Thursday. At Nottingham, Minor Cert produced a genuinely open class sprint of 17.78.

The Newcastle nomination was a close buckle between two Angela Harrison trained hounds. Velvet Juliet won a cracking A1 in 28.58, but was outshone by Droopys Catch who was five spots quicker. At Pelaw Grange, Helens Bay emerged from the shadow of Black Olive to take the week’s top graded race.

Cadburys Hero was the fastest dog over Swindon’s 476m in 2019 with a 27.86 run. His 28.27 is the quickest since the return of racing.

At Doncaster, there are few more exciting sights than Barnside Rio for his last to first bursts including the fastest 450 in a while. Staying in Yorkshire, Sheffield appears to be running a little slower since the return with regular sub29.00 runner Droopys Wild easily winning an A2 in 29.12. Hello There looked like a chip of the old block with a last to first FOW at Perry Barr. In the early pace department, Moors Trulymadly has been the quickest over the sprint course since the return to racing at Harlow.

Michelle Brown’s home breds have been bombing around Henlow. On Saturday, Signature Dancer clocked the second fastest time of the year, 27.44, only for litter brother Signature Callum to go four spots quicker a couple of hours later.