Romford stadium is once again the pride of greyhound racing after undergoing major works. Officially up and running last week, the Essex venue like last week has put on a great show tonight. The Coral TV trophy concludes and regular readers of this column will know all about two of the finalists; Savana Winner and Riverside Honey. To accompany that top final the Coral Puppy Cup starts tonight with six heats over 400 metres. In that competition there are lots of interesting entries and yours truly has endeavoured to find out more about four of them.
Henlow trainer Heather Dimmock has targeted the Coral Puppy Cup with two of her charges. Both from the same litter the siblings will be looking to take the trophy home to Bedfordshire. First up is Faydas Jet in the opening heat at 7.03pm. The December ’17 whelp has had four races on these shores to no avail. Those races were at Nottingham, Doncaster, Crayford and Romford. At Romford the daughter of Tyrur Big Mike and Emmas Pride over C&D finished last after finding trouble in the early stages and at the fourth bend.
That race was from trap one and tonight she goes from trap two which may prove helpful. Interestingly all four races at the four different tracks she did not have any pre race trials. She has had another look at Romford recently which may prove beneficial. In that trial she clocked a good time of 24.33 along with a very good split time of 3.73. That early pace from the traps could get her a clear run around the Essex venue tonight.
On the first of her two puppies Heather said: “She has had a little niggle and expect her to go a bit quicker. She has nice early pace and 400 metres could be ideal for her. She gets 460 metres at Henlow but that is about her limit at the moment.
“She definitely wants to be in front and if she comes away has every chance. We are happy with trap two. From trap one she steps off a bit like she did last time at the track. We’re more than happy with the draw.”
Faydas Jet is 6/1 with Bet365 to win the heat and the company make her 33/1 to win the competition.
Heather’s other runner goes in heat four at 7.49pm. Make No Apologie is the litter brother of Faydas Jet and will be looking to make it a winning double for connections and trainer. The December ’17 whelp is less experienced than her sister with only two runs on these shores. Those runs were at Nottingham and Doncaster over 500 and 483 metres where he managed third and second place. In both races the son of Tyrur Big Mike and Emmas Pride led but was picked up. The drop down to 400 metres could be ideal for the early paced sort. In a recent trial over C&D he showed his puppy cup credentials with a calculated time of 23.98 along with a fast 3.71 split. To break twenty four seconds on the his first look at the track shows he could be a player.
Heather on the second of her puppies said: “In his first look around the track he broke twenty four seconds. He is going the right way. He is only a December ’17 whelp and is still ever so puppyish. He has early and hope his early pace gets him to the front on Friday.
“He has had a couple of races at Doncaster and Nottingham and those races were a little too far for him. We always kept an eye on Romford with the puppy cup a target. He will get 400 metres and hope his early pace gets him in front.
“We are happy with trap three on Friday. We can’t complain with that.”
On who she thinks could go best of her two, Heather said: “It has to be Make No Apologie.”
Ladbrokes are top price 2/1 for him to win on his Romford race debut and 8/1 is generally available for the outright spoils.
Jakes Magic makes his Romford race debut tonight at 7.33pm in heat three for Yarmouth trainer Erica Samuels. The October ’17 whelp just qualifies as a puppy and will be looking to go out on a bang before he loses his puppy status.
The son of Superior Product and Lissan Eve has had six races over here winning two. Those two wins came at home track Yarmouth in A2 and A1 graded races. He recently had a tilt in the East Anglian Derby at Yarmouth but was eliminated in the first round after finding trouble at the second bend. The Yarmouth raider has had a look around the track but in April clicking a calculated time of 24.77. Since then he has come on and will be expected to vastly improve on that time.
Craig Samuels, assistant trainer to Erica on him said: “When we trialled him at Romford he had just come back from schooling and thought we would give him a spin. He has improved a lot more since then. Entering him in the puppy cup was a last minute decision. We entered him in the East Anglian Derby and he was unlucky in his heat. He probably could have qualified had he not found trouble when he did.
“It is his last chance as a puppy so thought we would enter him and see what happens. Chloe Fairman who owns him and is her baby thought it would also be interesting to see how he gets on.
“He definitely gets 462 metres and does not slow down in the latter stages. He tends to go skew-whiff from the traps though. He can get over excited at the boxes. He does have early pace and if he gets to the bend in front I don’t think he will get beat.
“Trap three is good for him. It will be interesting to see how he gets on. Fingers crossed.”
Bet365 are 7/4 top price for him to win on Romford race debut and is generally available at 16/1 to claim the trophy outright.
Crayford trainer Jim Reynolds knows exactly what it takes to win at Romford having formerly trained there. Tonight his charge Ballymac Micko is not only making his Romford debut but his race one as well in heat six at 8.21pm. The April ’18 whelp goes into the competition as the youngest and most inexperienced. The son of Ballymac Best and Coolavanny Pet has had all his four trials on these shores at Romford over 400 metres. His last trial showed most improvement when clocking a calculated time of 24.46. Being so young and inexperienced he will be expected to improve with every run.
Jim on him said: “He came out of Liam Dowling. The wee dog came to us late in the day and we managed to get him qualified. The racing office were very accommodating to get him qualified.
“He is going in the competition without a race. I would have preferred a race but it is not impossible to go in first time and do well. He is the youngest and most inexperienced and open to the most improvement. He should handle race conditions and from coming from Liam Dowling has been very well schooled.
“At the moment he has puppy enthusiasm and hopefully begins to calm down. With more runs hopefully he will get a bit calmer and be better for it.
“He has a lovely turn of pace. His breaking is not the quickest but when his feet hit the ground he has lovely pace.
“If he improves and qualifies he will not be 50/1 for the comp. He could be a wee bit of value.”
Skybet make him 10/1 to win his first ever race and 50/1 is generally available for him to win the puppy cup outright.
Regular readers of this column may of had a nice 6/4 winner last week curtesy of Riverside Honey. As covered last week the Irish raider didn’t just duly oblige she broke the track record over 925 metres. Before the race last week trainer Graham Holland said “…..We think she says – its a long way to go if we didn’t.” He wasn’t wrong. Tonight she goes into the 8.53pm showpiece final as Evens favourite.
