With 11 days to go until the start of the Coral Golden Sprint, Romford racing manager Peter O’Dowd is predicting a full book for the 36 runner event.
He said: “We have another six trialstakes tonight (Feb 19) and still another week to go. I think you would need to be capable of a 24.20 here to get in and there are quite a few locals around that mark with a clear run. At this stage, I think Dave Pruhs holds all the aces with Scolari Sound and Laughing Gravy.”
O’Dowd reckons the running styles of both dogs are suited to the course and distance but in differing way.
He said: “Quite often pure sprinters aren’t good trappers, but rely on blinding early pace. A dog like Target Harris is a good example. The problem is, our straights are comparatively short and the field and they arrive at speed at the first bend with dogs still in front of them. But Scolari Sound (24.00 at 18 months old over c&d) is a very good trapper and with the early pace to go with it. His time last week wasn’t that impressive but it was his first four-bends in a while and I would expect him to improve quite a bit on that.
“As far as Laughing Gravy is concerned, he simply loves the track. I think Dave describes it as his ‘home track’. He runs the bends so well and is ideally suited to the distance. His other big advantage is that he is a wide seed and practically guaranteed five or six throughout the competition, something that is becoming quite commonplace for wide sees in general.
“I don’t know whether we have one good enough here to win it. Last year’s winner winner You Never Listen clearly is, but she is just trialling back after a break and I wouldn’t know whether she will be ready in time.”
Overall the Romford kennel strength remains solid around the 450 mark with a good mix of four and six bend performers.
O’Dowd said: “I would love to run at least one graded 750 each week, though realistically, it is closer to one a month. One of the main reasons is that we often put on 750 maidens and I will utilise the graded dogs to fill them. As for hurdlers, they have really dried up since Ockendon schooling track closed down and reduced the options for schooling.”
