Joe’s Tips

Wednesday’s Graded Bets

**NAP** 8.01 Romford – Dreamin Magpie
*NB* 7.44 Romford – Bacon Roll
Value Bet 8.54 Romford – Flynns Porter

All three bets are at Romford this evening.

The Nap goes in the 575m S1 at 8.01pm where Trap Six Dreamin Magpie is looking to repeat last weeks open race victory by again beating Pacey Robin and Corbrack Duchess.

There was only a short head between Dreamin Magpie and Pacey Robin last week with Corbrack Duchess a length and a half back in third but Dreamin Magpie can trap better than he did last week and make the distance more comfortable if leading at an earlier stage than the sixth bend.

The Next best is Trap Four Bacon Roll in the A3 at 7.44. A bitch who has been extremely expensive to follow but if trapping on terms should lead and make all.

Bacon Roll has gone from competing in top A1s and Open Races to A3 where she should be leaving this grade behind her now she is nearly seventeen weeks out of season. She missed the break last weekend and paced up smartly before finding trouble so a clean break and clear run to the bend can see Bacon Roll leading and winning.

The Value bet is Trap One Flynns Porter in the A2 at 8.54pm. Another who has been frustrating to follow recently having been competing in top A1s behind the likes of Chelms Gask and Droopys Pamela.

He finds himself in a winnable A2 with a good makeup on the inside in Trap One. He stays well and as there is plenty of early on his outside, the race could suit the strong running type to take advantage of any mistakes between the leaders.

Kings and Queens are staying

There are expected be an array of Kings and Queens in the in the Ladbrokes Summer Stayers, but not one to be found in the Gold Cup – draws to be published later today.

KSS Assistant Trainer Rab McNair said: “I don’t know how many will get in, but we are entering Havana Lover, Havana Top Note, Queen Georgia, King Combs and King Ezra for the stayers competition. You know it will be tough because as I have always said, Monmore and Towcester are the two toughest tracks to win big races at because you get the best of the northern and southern runners.”

There were originally plans to also have a presence in the four bend Gold Cup but circumstances have scuppered the KSS interest.

Rab added: “We originally planned to use the Pall Mall as preparation for the Gold Cup for (King) Capaldi but we had to withdraw him lame. I’ve had various people look at him and we still can’t work out what the injury is. I took him to the vet and had him x-rayed but nothing showed up then either.

“I was chatting to Seamus Cahill and gather that they had a similar problem with Droopys Clue. In the end, Seamus gave him seven weeks off and he came back okay, though Seamus said it would have been longer if it wasn’t for the Sussex Cup. As it stands, the Yarmouth Derby and Birmingham Cup will be too soon, and we will set our sights on the Steel City Cup.

“I also planned to run Queen Joni at Monmore. Unfortunately, she injured a dew claw at Towcester and then developed an infection in the wound. She is ahead of Capaldi in her preparation and will hopefully be back for the Empress Stakes, along with Queen Shakira.”

As for the star of the kennel, King Memphis. . . ?

Rab said: “I had a long chat with the boss (Brendan Keogh) and we decided he had had a long campaign going back into last year’s Derby and the Puppy Derby and Olympic last year. He is now well rested and wanting to tear the place down but we’ll keep him off a bit longer with just the occasional trial to keep him ticking over.

“He won’t be going for the Select Stakes. At this stage, the main targets would be the Kent Derby followed by the Olympic. We will then put him away with the long term plan being next year’s Derby.

“I noticed how many of the Irish dogs that were entered at Towcester this year were getting on a bit but still performing well. Maybe that is the sign of there being fewer dogs in training, particularly less Derby class fast young dogs.”

In the meantime, the next generation are already knocking at the door.

The next litter out of Queen Beyonce (dam of King Memphis, Capaldi etc), by Magical Bale, have just completed their schooling.

Rab said: “I’m having a nightmare with the paperwork at the moment but as soon as it is sorted, I want to get them, along with some others, including a couple of King Elvis pups out of Queen Dolly, into Tony Collett and Dan Brabon at Central Park.

“It looks as though there are a couple of decent ones in there, based on what they did at Bicester (schooling track). One of the dogs was quicker than Queen Joni in his first trial.”

So are there any ambitions left this year?

“Just one – the Trainers Championship. You can tell Mark Wallis I am going to hunt him down”

Trainer changes at Newcastle

NEWCASTLE is likely to take stock before deciding whether to advertise for a new trainer after Steve Anderson announced he is to join Sheffield.

The man behind the ‘Bramble’ prefix, seeking a new challenge in the sport, will move to the Owlerton Stadium with 30-plus runners on the strength.

Anderson’s decision follows other changes at the Byker venue, including trainer Harry Burton relinquishing his licence for health reasons and Joe Edgar taking over the reins at the Jubilee Kennels from Tom.

A message from the Edgars on X last week read: “It’s a big day for Jubilee Kennels as our GBGB license transfers from Tom to Joe, as Tom takes ‘semi-retirement’.

“After racing on the flaps for many years, primarily at Workington and Blackpool, the imminent closure of Workington saw Tom take out his trainer’s license in September 1998, attaching to @Newcastledogs where he has remained for over 25 years continued service.

“He sent out his first winner on October 13 (1998) as Spiral Merlin won a handicap and has followed that up with an estimated 6,000 winners.

“In reality nothing changes day to day, but both Tom and Joe would like to thank all of our owners for their continued support, as well as our staff past and present as we look forward to the future.

“We also welcome @ListerCathy86 on board to our full time staff.”

Wednesday Stats

Bringing you some interesting tidbits from around the greyhound racing today.

  • Smurfever – 3.01 Hove – Is 5/6 when running from trap two.
  • Sharp Teddy – 5.31 Hove – The May 19 whelp makes his 150th career start at Hove.
  • Perfecto Carrot – 7.37 Romford – Races for the 150th time tonight.
  • Kilara Trojan – 7.39 Yarmouth – Is a perfect 5/5 when running from trap four.
  • Slaneyside Vardy – 9.00 Youghal – Has won eight of the last nine times he has raced in A2 grade.

Williams gets eight but it’s not a record

Trainer Leigh Williams had eight winners at The Valley on Tuesday. The kennel were heavily represented in every race bar one but they still didn’t get close to the record of Lisa Cole.

The New Zealand trainer won all 12 races on a card at Whanganui in May 2020. Cole had three races where the kennel had the first three home and a further six where they had two of the first three. Cole has 12 winners on more than one occasion with a lot of cards having 15 races on them. May 2020 was the first time that there had been a clean sweep of all the races, however.

Opens

Thursday: Hove ♦ Swindon
Friday: Romford
Saturday: Doncaster ♦  Monmore ♦ Yarmouth
Sunday: Sheffield ♦ Towcester