Seal looking forward to autumn
Perry Barr racing manager Martin Seal is expecting a strong second half of 2024 after kick-starting a series of regular Saturday opens at the Birmingham track recently.
Saturday’s batch of opens saw regular visitor Nathan Hunt take the training honours as his in-form kennel landed a treble courtesy of Seaview Sydney, Droopys By Amile and Cunnigar Yousir, while his Cooladerry Dust was starring at Hove in a heat of the Coral Regency.
“He looks a St Leger possible, for sure,” said Seal, with reference to the Premier Greyhound Racing-backed Classic in September.
“Nathan is doing really well on the open-race circuit and is clearly not adverse to travelling, and am sure he’ll have runners in all our major events later in the year.”
Won last year by Droopys Clue, himself a winner at Hove on Saturday in the Coral Sussex Cup heats, the 710m Premier Greyhound Racing St Leger begins on Saturday, September 7. The semi-finals are on Saturday, September 14 and the £20,000-to-the-winner final on Saturday, September 21.
Supporting the St Leger once again will be the M Lambe Construction Birmingham Cup. Run in Memory of Michael Lambe Senior, sponsored by the family of Perry Barr trainer John Lambe in memory of his father. Heats, semi-finals and the £12,500-to-the-winner final will run alongside the St Leger over 480m. The following month sees the Premier Greyhound Racing Oaks, with the £20,000 final on Saturday, October 26. That will also see another big-race doubleheader at the Midlands venue given the Arena Racing Company Scurry Gold Cup, a Category Two event, will also be staged. The 275m traditional sprint showpiece will run alongside the last three rounds of the Oaks.
“These all are special competitions to us here and both final nights of the St Leger and Birmingham Cup, then the Oaks and Scurry Gold Cup later in the year, will be special occasions. We had a great atmosphere for the (Arena Racing Company) Laurels final here in April. I’ve no doubt that will be repeated for these two Saturday night specials.”
Bar One Sprint starts on Saturday
The draw for the opening round of the Bar One Sprint was made this morning.
Defending champion Carrick Aldo will have to wait until heat 11 to start his defence. His 20.80 winning time in 2023 was electric, where his only defeat came in the second round. He will sport the striped jacket on Saturday night. The 2023 Irish Derby champion, The Other Kobe, will don the white jacket in heat nine.
Ballinakill Alf was an Irish Sprinter of the Year finalist in 2023 and has been flying again this year. He set new figures for the 350-yard distance at Limerick in June and will head to trap three in heat two.
November 22 puppy Coolavanny Brave lines up in heat 10 from trap four. The twice-raced son of Broadstrand Bono clocked a 21.07 when winning earlier this month. That’s the second-fastest time of the year so far over 366 yards.
Changes to Romford Sales
There have been a dozen changes to the planned catalogue for Thursday’s Premier Greyhound Sales at Romford
Spokesman Nathan Corden said: “Due to circumstances beyond our control, we had to produce the catalogue particularly early but there is no loss of quality in the changes.” – New Catalogue
Liam Marks
Irish racing is mourning the passing of Liam (Billy) Marks.
In partnership with Dolores Ruth, Marks enjoyed huge success with the Razldazl prefix. Razldazl Billy (2006) and Razldazl George (2011) both won the Irish Derby during a period where they dominated. The former greatly impacted breeding in a short time at stud, becoming an exceptional brood sire.
Marks was a hugely popular figure on Irish tracks and will be greatly missed by the greyhound racing community. Our condolences go out to all of Marks’ family and friends.
Notable non-runners
King Capaldi has been withdrawn lame from the Pall Mall semi-finals at Oxford on Saturday evening.
Sunday’s Juvenile Classic at Towcester also has a withdrawal. Bubbly Apollo has been withdrawn lame.
Twitter change
The Greyhound Star Twitter feed will be moving at the end of this week. The old account will become inactive with @greyhound_star now the handle to follow.
Opens
Thursday: Newcastle ♦ Swindon
Friday: Romford
Saturday: Central Park ♦ Hove ♦ Yarmouth
