The Bresbet Steel City Cup Final takes centre stage at Sheffield’s Owlerton stadium this evening. With a winners prize of £8000 all 6 greyhounds will be looking to emulate the achievement of Forest Gold who won the event in 2021 under the trainership of Kevin Hutton for the ownership pairing of Darren Loveys and Mark Hart. The card is previewed in full by Mark Pierrepont –
There are 6 supporting opens on the card with the first being the Bresbet Download Our App Stakes at 636pm. A puppy affair over 500m Barrie Draper’s SLANEYSIDE FRIEND can make all from what looks a plot draw. Draper’s bitch has moved nicely through the grades here at Sheffield and is beginning to develop a consistency to her trapping to go with her early pace. Stephen Naylor’s Ballymac Archer drawn to her inside isn’t the most reliable at the boxes and Phil Milner’s promising Keefill Peppa is making her career debut so could be forgiven if she misses it a beat here. That should leave the path clear for ‘Friend’ to dominate from the outset and if leading round the turn she’ll be very difficult to peg back especially given that the outside drawn trio look drawn to come together before they reach the second turn.
The Bresbet Follow On Twitter Stakes over 500m is next up at 741pm. Take a chance that Ben Reynold’s Perry Barr raider CRYSTAL IMPACT who has been knocking on the door since stepping into open class company can get off the mark in the sphere here. He’s a strong runner with a good attitude to racing and could well have the middle to outside of the track to himself. A reasonable enough break and he could well be in a super position by halfway to get his open race belatedly up and running.
The Bresbet Supporting Rising Stars Stakes is next up at 758pm and there is simply no getting away from the draw that Sean Parker’s JUMEIRAH BRIDGE has against the rail. The sole railer in the field Parker’s charge is a proven open class performer over in Ireland with solid winning efforts in good times on the card around Shelbourne Park , Tralee , Galway and Cork. He’s trialled in well since arriving in the UK both at Doncaster and latterly here over course and distance and if coming away he looks certain to make the bend his own and soon kick on for victory. His team are not adverse to landing a touch and this looks a golden opportunity to do so.
The ladies are next up at 812pm with the Bresbet Check Out Our Daily Specials Stakes over 500m. A tricky looking affair and a race where maybe a small investment at a price might be the way to play. Follow a bitch in form is the mantra and one that fits the bill is Sean Parker’s BALLYMAC BAKE who after a little bit of a lull found a fair few lengths when landing top grade company at home track Doncaster on her last start. She’s a very lightly raced bitch for a September 2020 whelp and could very well kick on from here to enjoy a fair amount of success in similar bitch confined events. At the likely prices and taking into account her lack of a look around she looks worth supporting to small stakes in both the win and place markets.
The sprinters are next over 280m at 846pm with the Bresbet Slot Of The Week. This isn’t a high quality affair by any means and Tom Heilbron’s DUBH GASTA who run well in second place in a sprint on St Leger Final night at Perrry recently on his UK debut can get off the mark here. He’s well drawn in the white jacket and trialled well here last week. This is a poor field and a good opportunity for connections to recoup some of the purchase price.
The main event is next up at 901pm as the greyhounds line up for the £8000 to the winner Bresbet Steel City Cup Final. A prestigous event and one which always produces a winner of the highest class. Last year it was Kevin Hutton’s Forest Gold and this year I’m siding with Lisa Stephenson’s CARROWKEAL SYD to pull off a shock and land them what would be a huge home turf success. Elaine Parker was the last local trainer to land glory in this competition with her superstar performer Pay Freeze in 2013. The cheers of the crowd will likely be even louder if Syd is to get the job done. He’s going to need a career best break however this is as big as a Derby Final for his team , it doesn’t get any bigger than this and I fully expect him to have been prepared to the absolute minute. Syd can smash out and get around in front and if doing so he’ll not be picked up. Likely race favourite Brookside Richie now trained up in the North East by Jimmy Fenwick having spent the early part of his career at the Essex base of David Mullins has been in flying form heading into tonights final but has suffered horrendously in the draw. He’s out in trap 5 and that’s far from a positive to his chances as he’ll be looking to get across at the earliest available opportunity. He’ll need a flyer but that can’t be ruled out and if he did get across then he will likely win and would be a deserved winner to boot. A terrific final but Syd to land the spoils on what would be a memorable night for connections. The very best of luck to all 6 sets of connections Angela Harrison (T1 Move Over Cha) along with owners Mr T W Camsell , Mr F G W Ellison and R Lindsay. Lisa Stephenson (T2 Carrowkeal Syd) along with owners The Long Con Club. Gary Hamilton (T3 Breaghmore Patch) owner and trainer. Tom Heilbron (T4 Freedom Epic) for the Link Kennels Syndicate. Jimmy Fenwick (T5 Brookside Richie) for Mr R A Vickers and last but by no means least John Mullins (T6 Signet Goofy) for Lee Calcutt and Chris Waters.
The final open race of the night is the Bresbet Legends Stakes over 500m at 916pm and SKYWALKER MINT can gain some compensation for connections having been eliminated from the Steel City Cup at the semi final stage. He doesn’t really want to be drawn this close to the rail but he’s enough about him to hold his position as they head into the turn and if squeezing around in front he can soon set about kicking for home.
