Patrick Janssens is not the sort of trainer who makes wild statements about his dogs but there is no disguising the fact that he has always considered Bockos Doomie as “just a bit special”.
The great white is 3-1 ante post favorite for the Coral Sussex Cup and is ideally drawn in trap one for Saturday’s first round heats. So how good is he? Like a master politician the big Belgian swerves the question with a considered reply.
“It is a very good competition, with a lot of quality greyhounds, but look no further than his record. 16 wins from 21 races and all in top company. It is seven from seven at Hove. With no disrespect to some of the other tracks, you can run up big sequences on some of them just by being a track specialist. There are no hiding places at Hove. He beat King Sheeran in a sprint trial at Central Park in 15.98. He did 28.43 for 490 at Hove as a puppy. Three from three at Henlow as a puppy, 27.24 for 460m.
“But I have always thought that this would be his year. So far he has had a sprint, two 480s and a 515 before his first race back on Saturday (video below). I thought he was exceptional and should come on for the race.
“He has red on Saturday; but then there aren’t many railers in the competition. But the draw doesn’t bother me; he is the sort of dog who will just bully his way through.”
The meeting also sees Lenson Austin (ht 3) make his debut for Janssens following his switch from Graham Holland.
Patrick said: “Austin arrived in terrific condition from Graham but he probably needs the run. His future is definitely over longer distances in my view.”
Best from a selection of early ante post prices for each runner.
