“In my opinion, there are probably 15 dogs in the competition who look capable of winning it.”

Shawfield racing manager Daniel Rankin was pleased with the open quality of entry for the 2018 RPGTV Scottish Derby and believes the shorter format has been good for the event.

He said: “It looks very competitive unlike last year where I thought it looked to be between Droopys Buick and Dorotas Woo Hoo from the start. Personally I edged it towards Yoo Hoo because I thought he was more likely to get the better draws.

“On that subject, the trainers seem to have been a lot more sensible this year in their seedings. In past years, a lot of middle runners have been seeded rails because the feeling was that Shawfield favoured railers.

“I don’t think that was ever the case, we just had a lot of very good winners who happened to be railers.

“In general, the event has improved since we reduced it to a ‘three Saturday’ competition from the old ’48’ format of Tuesday, Saturday, Tuesday, Saturday.

“That made it a lot harder for trainers travelling long distances which meant they didn’t enter.

“Of course the sponsorship by RPGTV badly hits attendances, but without sponsorship, would the competition go ahead?”

Daniel has given his assessment of the first round heats. He says:

“The Other Reg looks the one to beat in the first heat. He ran the track well to win the puppy event last year and has trialled well in recent weeks. I fancy Coolavanny Mason, who was runner-up last year, to get through. He is almost a pet these but looks very well drawn.

“I don’t know if King Turbo will win it without a trial, but he definitely has enough class to qualify. Rackethall Jess’s trial was disappointing, she seemed to stumble at the start and was running in snatches. That happens some times when they don’t know the track and I would expect her to find a few lengths.”

“Bull Run Button will be fancied in here but it might not be so straightforward. The three has shown very good early pace in his trials and is a big 39 kilo dog. If he traps and moves to rails, there could be some crowding going to the bend. I was very impressed with Forest West in his trial and he might get a clear run.”

“We are still to see whether Black Farren can reproduce his Irish running but I think Barefoot Painter looks well drawn on the inside. Ashbank Christy hasn’t raced for a while and five and six should both be looking for qualifying places.”

“This is a very good heat. I would expect Wuheida and Bruisers Bullet to go fast to the bend on the inside with Farloe Falcon having no early pace. I am not convinced that Wuheida sees out the trip, our 480 is tougher than Sheffield’s 500 metres. There are also two very good dogs in five and six. Dorotas Vic didn’t trap in his trial, but he is a dog who I like a lot because he has all round pace and I would strongly fancy him to qualify.”

(Kranky Mark is incorrectly show as a middle seen in the form below)

“I don’t think a dog with Calico Ranger’s running style can ever be a certainty, but things could not have gone better for him in the weakest heat. I would see lots of crowding on the run-up to the bend and Ranger being able to run around the outside of it.”