Joe’s Monmore Undercard Tips

*** 6.48 Monmore – Stonepark Champ (9/4 Ladbrokes)
** 7.06 Monmore – Havana Top Note (6/4 Ladbrokes)
*7.39 Monmore – Mad For Sterling (8/13 Ladbrokes)
*7.56 Monmore – Ballymac Taylor (8/11 Ladbrokes)

The Peter Billingham Memorial Trophy Final for puppies takes place at 8.31 with some future stars of the track on show.

Two competitive heats last week have provided an open final where Aero Pattika at 11/10 would be too short with the fast-starting Lion Heart on his inside. I’m going to be with the Carol Weatherall-trained Clona King at a big price in trap five (12/1). He ran a massive race in defeat last week finding trouble early and hitting the rail at the last bend when closing in on Lion Heart. He is still lightly raced and if coming away can work his way into the race off the second bend to go on and win.

The Monmoredogs Dash Final over 264m at 9.23 looks like a match race on paper between trap one Bombout Bullet and trap five Cree Jo Jo. I’m going to be with Cree Jo Jo (5/4) who was workmanlike when winning his heat last week but before that trialled out of trap five and clocked a flying 15.21 over C&D and a repeat sees him win. Any mistakes from Cree Jo Jo will give Bombout Bullet a chance to take advantage.

Monmore Nap

The Nap of the evening is trap five Stonepark Champ in the Ladbrokes 480 at 6.48. Favourite Unanimous Leon has got a bad draw drawn outside a middle runner in trap one (Aero Gift) so I would expect plenty of coming together early. That would allow Stonepark Champ to steal a march on his rivals here from a good draw so I would expect him to lead and make all.

The next best is trap three Havana Top Note in the Ladbrokes 630 at 7.06. A semi-final exit behind Coonough Crow in the Summer Stayers sees Havana Top Note try to make amends here in a race where he should lead Droopys By Amile and Aero Arran on his inside. Ballymac Johnjo and Havana Lover look the main dangers to Havana Top Note but a smart exit can see him win.

Other main selections although short prices are Mad For Sterling in the Ladbrokes 684 at 7.39 and Ballymac Taylor in the Ladbrokes 900 at 7.56.

Other Saturday Opens

Doncaster and Yarmouth also host open racing tonight.

Six opens at Doncaster this evening where Angel of the North runner-up Leighas Dream is in action in the 7.24 for Barry Denby. Bellmore Cricket and Ballymac Canter are the second and third-quickest dogs over 450m at the track so far this year. They clash in the 8.35 for Denby and Jimmy Gaskin respectively.

At Yarmouth, there are a couple of trial stakes for the upcoming East Anglian Derby. It is primarily locals in action but two of the best Yarmouth dogs clash in the last race at 10.00 in Bombay The Joker and Bonjurno Boy.

Gemma Evans sends Millbank Boiler to Yarmouth for the puppy race at 7.20. He is a half-brother to Churchfield Syd so it could be a great night for breeder George Hickey with Syd’s litter brother Westfield Bullet also in open race action in Doncaster’s 7.42.

Time Juvenile Derby semis

Knegare heads the betting ahead of the last 12 at Shelbourne.

The second semi-final at 9.12 has the ante post market leader Callaway Knegare in trap two. He ran riot by 17 lengths last week from Boylesports Blue who re-opposes. That rival produced his best sectional and finish time the only other time he has raced from trap one and he moves middle. The favourite is still the one to beat but it might not be quite as straightforward as seven days ago.

Semi-final one at 8.57 features Ballymac Briar and Cosane Pickles who were split by a short head last week. The former has the early gears to take advantage of his position on the rails with the latter drawn in two for the first time since her winning debut at Thurles. They should enjoy another excellent tussle.

Romford Friday Review

Tom Heilbron enjoys a successful London Road raid.

If you missed the Tom Heilbron interview from earlier in the month then you may have missed Untold Rufiyaa being touted as a Romford Puppy Cup class performer. The son of Droopys Sydney showed that to be true on his race debut last night, stopping the clock in 23.68, the seventh quickest of 2024 over 400m.

What made it more remarkable was that he didn’t trap! He is in the red jacket.

He was part of a 16/1 treble for the kennel who also had Without Cause (23.54) and Madabout Peck (23.87) on the scoresheet. The former clocked the second fastest time of the year, only Druids Say Go has gone quicker.

She was a winner last night for Patrick Janssens, though not getting the clearest of runs early meant she ‘only’ clocked 23.78. Despite that, she has five of the 12 top 400m times this year.

It took until the seventh time of asking for My Boy Stormzy to win at Romford but his 35.33 display will have been worth the wait for Craig Morris. The dog has been in a rich vein of form at Yarmouth of late and carried that over.

Romford Family Fun Day

Bank Holiday Monday at Romford is Family Fun Day.

To kick off National Greyhound Week Romford’s meeting on Monday is a Family Fun Day. All kids get a free activity booklet and there is the chance to meet a couple of retired greyhounds, Marina and Bruno.

Produce Stakes trials

Maverick sets the Swindon standard in Thursday’s trial session.

Thursday, August 29 is the opening round of the Produce Stakes. The trial card this week looked like a corker beforehand and so it proved. Keefill Maverick was the fastest of the session, producing a 28.03 for Phil Milner. That is just 10 spots off the quickest time of the year so far. For reference, Queen Joni set the 27.53 track record in the semi-finals of the competition last year.

Tom Heilbron’s Romeo Jackson and Romeo Crossfire were the only other pair to duck under the 28.20 mark. A mention has to go to Kevin Hutton’s Union Rebel who was the only one to break the four-second split barrier.

The Produce Stakes is the long-standing bastian of British breeding and while the volume of litters has not been there in recent years, it is clear that the quality still is.

Stats

  • Ballymac Acres – 6.11 Doncaster – 10/13 from the black jacket
  • Savana Sarge – 6.56 Oxford – 3/3 when running from T5 in A6 at Oxford

Opens

Saturday: Doncaster ♦ Yarmouth
Sunday: Sheffield
Monday: Nottingham