“I knew he was good, but I didn’t know how good. And to be honest, I still don’t know.”
Rab McNair found himself unusually bereft on an opinion after the kennel’s King Drake had produced the fastest semi final win in the Colossus Bets Silver Salver at Central Park.
Contesting just the eighth race of his career, the Ladbrokes Puppy Derby finalist impressively turned over the 2019 Bresmed winner Coolavanny Dylan in 16.16 (-05) for the 265m. He will be joined in the final by the similarly unbeaten duo of Ballynabee Lucky (16.27) and Shrewd Call (16.20) with all three in line for a £10K bonus if they take the £3,000 decider next Sunday.
Drake’s last race prior to the lockdown was in the Monmore final and the loss of more than three months of experience has left the assistant trainer speculating on how much more improvement there is to come in the whole litter.
Rab said: “I knew they were very good because even when they were being schooled, Drake did something like a 16.19 for the sprint. But even then he wasn’t the fastest, I think (King) Bruno did a 16.11. Even going into the Salver I though (King) Sam was likely to go furthest.
“What really impressed me was how strongly Drake came home. At the moment, the dogs aren’t quite staying the Central Park 480 as Bruno showed in the first race (of the night). The problem is, it takes two months for these dogs to get fully fit and with Bruno, Drake and Sam, we are dealing with very similar types of dogs to King Elvis.
“There was a time when there were lots of tracks like Milton Keynes (440), and Oxford (450) to bring these dogs on until they can see out the trip as they get older. We haven’t even got Poole now and I doubt they will be putting on the big race at Sunderland this year, so we are stuck between distances.
“Thankfully we have Romford and I have some trials booked this week. Monmore is easier to stay than Central Park, but it is still quite tough for inexperienced dogs. It is a shame that there weren’t any juvenile competitions for pups who missed out on puppy experience.”
The layers have David Mullins’ Shrewd Call as the 5-4f with King Drake next at 7-2, followed 9-2 Ballynabee Lucky & Coolavanny Dylan, 13-2 Grays Cup Winner, 25-1 Druids Brazona.
McNair said: “To be honest, I think Drake looks great value at 7-2”.
16.20 winner SHREWD CALL leads Druids Brazona (t2) at the turn in the opening Colossus Bets Silver Salver semi final. Photo: © Steve Nash
BALLYNABEE LUCKY (t2) leads runner up Grays Cup Winner (t5) at the turn in the third Colossus Bets Silver Salver semi final, the 16.27 winner completing a trio of greyhounds in line for the sponsor’s £10,000 bonus for going unbeaten through the event. Photo: © Steve Nash
