Quick away – always Len
My Lennie was the quickest heat winner in the opening round of the ARC Kent Silver Salver which got underway at Central Park on Sunday night. Adam Sear’s runner found 13 spots on his trial run but was made to work by Magical Bluebear who showed plenty of ability on his first look of the circuit.
Three of the heats went to locally trained runners with Dan Brabon’s Merrymeeting Lil marginally quickest of the trio with a 16.37 run. The D1 runner clocked a new PB when holding off the fast finishing Time To Talk.
Emers Sammy, who has the year’s quickest run over course and distance (16.22) was some way off that form but still justified his 8/15 SP with a 16.48 run.
The shock of the day was the elimination of the desperately National Sprint winner Bombout Bullet in a heat won by the 33-1 opportunist Broadway World. It was the messiest race of the day, though all six completed the course. Overall, the finishes were tight with four of the six heats resulting in fields spread across six and a half lengths or less.
Last year’s finalist Ballyard Shawny moved a step closer to a second final when beating odds-on chance Romeo Crusade in heat two. Jason Bloomfield’s dual distance type clocked a calculated 16.16 for Mark Wallis in last year’s decider so possibly more to come.
The prospects of back-to-back Salvers for Pat Buckley advanced when Hopes Hurricane picked up the final heat. The pup is another who seems likely to benefit from a first glimpse of the circuit.
Wimbledon memories brought to life
The premier of the Going To The Dogs took place on Saturday afternoon where invited guests were able to reminisce on some fabulous times at the greatly missed Wimbledon Stadium.
The Digital Works creation set out to put on record ‘The History of Greyhound Racing at Wimbledon Stadium 1928 – 2017’ with footage of the stadium as it was, combined with the unique memories of a collection of people whose lives were affected by events at that particular part of Plough Lane.
It is a worthy tribute that will rightly engender mixed feelings among greyhound folk
