Next Saturday (November 7) will be the last opportunity for trainers to enter runners for Belle Vue opens prior to the start of the ECC Timber Oaks and Laurels.
Racing manager Dave Brayshaw said: “We originally planned the opens when we lost a couple of our trainers and they have proved popular. But after next weekend, we miss a week due to the Track Championship. With all those extra runners here, it would mean a lot of our graded dogs wouldn’t get a run if we held the opens too.
“The opens will finish with the televised meeting in December. Even if trainers are prepared to travel, there is no guarantee they will be able to get here.
“Overall the kennel strength is around 290 which is pretty decent. The optimum would be around 320 but compared to some of the other tracks we are doing okay and that number traditionally increases at this time of the year.”
Anyone hoping to see Charlie Lynch’s track record holder Blakefield Jack extend his winning sequence to seven will be disappointed that this weekend’s 590 open did not fill.
Brayshaw said: “I don’t know whether Jack scared them off or not, but he wasn’t entered anyway.”
The ECC Timber Oaks gets underway on Saturday November 21 and concludes on Wednesday December 9. The ECC Timber Laurels first round coincides with the Oaks second round on Friday November 29.
