Razldazl Raidio made it win 21 from 30 for the year with an exhibition of superior class in the Jimmy Jupp National Hurdle – part of a superb night’s racing at Hove on Thursday. He ran from trap five. .
The Grand National hero who started at 1-10f covered the 515mH course in 30.59, some 22 spots off his personal best over course and distance. Ricky Holloway’s runner is the most prolific open race winner of the year and could extend that further if any of the year’s remaining hurdle opens at Romford, Central Park and Hove, on Olympic Final, night manage to fill.
The night’s other feature event saw a thrilling finish in the Ballyregan Bob Memorial between Clares Kyletawn (T6 9-2) and Rubys Rascal (T3 7-4f).
The camera determined than June Harvey’s wide runner had held on by a short head in 41.72 for the 685m.
Patrick Janssens’ exciting youngster Seaglass Sandman (Skywalker Puma-Dame Iris, Mar 16) dominated the heats of the Coral Sussex Puppy Trophy with a with a 30.01, near six length win over Guiness Rover (T5 10-1). Contesting the third race of his career, the 4-6f ran from trap two.
Sandman won his only race in Ireland in 29.21 (-20) at Kilkenny with a racing weight of a mere 62lbs. On Thursday his racing weight was a mere 27.1kg, smaller than the bitch Queen Borneo who finished third.
The second semi final went to Droopys Nirvana (Romeo Recruit-Droopys Quinta, Apr 16) who went from trap six and started at 2-1. The favourite was Affleck Bolt (T2 4-5f) with Ridgedale Max (T3 20-1).
Nirvana clocked 30.39 and won by just under six lengths.
Trainer Patrick Janssens said: “Affleck Bolt was unlucky after missing his break, but that is puppy racing. But I was delighted with Sandman. When he first arrived in the kennel and saw him I thought ‘what have we got here?’. But we trialled him at Towcester and I said to Evan (Herbet – owner), this boy can run. He went straight into a race at Towcester, ran from six which I don’t think is his box and he won by nine.
“He has trap two in the final and if he comes out like he did in the heats, he should take all the beating But I thought Seamus’ pup ran very well to win the other qualifier, and I would expect him to improve.”
Draw: 1 Queen Borneo, 2 Seaglass Sandman, 3 Ridgedale Max, 4 Guinness Rover (M) 5 Power Blitz (M), 6 Droopys Nirvana (W)
With the Coral Olympic – the event which probably nailed the 2016 Greyhound of the Year title for Droopys Buick – due to close on Monday, there was plenty of interest in Thursday’s trialstakes and pre-race trials.
Most impressive in racing was King Eden (6-1) who landed the toughest of the trialstakes. He ran from trap four with Droopys Gold (T3) and Calico Ranger (T5), the 2-1 joint favourites. Murrays Act (5-2) ran from T6.
The other trialstakes went to Droopys Giorgio (29.82) Clash (29.85), Droopys Alex (30.04) and Romeo Mandate (30.08).
Bubbly Bluebird impressed in pre-race trials when clocking 29.59 (N).
