Four members of the same litter reached the final of the BGBF British Bred Sprint at Towcester today.
The first semi final saw 1-2-3 clean sweep for King Drake (T6), Queen Lilly (T5) and King Sam (T2).
The second semi went to Barrie Draper’s Keefill Arthur (T5) from King Bruno (T2) and Saffrons Xpress (T3).
King Drake’s winner time was the quickest winning time in a sprint race since the creation of the new distance. Hiya Boyo has the fastest trial time of 15.64.
Assistant trainer Rab McNair said: “That is five from the litter of seven running in finals next week, including Jessiej at Monmore. I kept saying on the Star website that I could see these young dogs – they aren’t pups any more – getting stronger. They missed out on so much experience during the lock down and now they are staring to show what they are capable of.
“Don’t forget Drake reached the Monmore Puppy Derby Final earlier in the year, we know he gets the four bends, and I am really looking forward to seeing him in the Produce Stakes at Swindon.
“The English Derby Final will not be as good as the Gold Cup Final in my opinion. The whole meeting was absolutely top class on Saturday. In fact, the stayers race is also as good a race as you will see. Sometimes at these meetings you end up chatting to people, but I was riveted to every race. It was brilliant.
“As for Jessiej, I was just so proud of her on Saturday.We’ve reached a few Category One finals over the years, but I can’t remember being more excited about getting in to one.
“The thing is, there are a lot of knockers out there can’t wait to have a pop. ‘You are only running against British breds’. It used to give me extra motivations with Elvis and Turbo. My little girl will be taking on some of the best greyhounds in training and whatever the draw, she won’t be without a chance.”
We will be reviewing the Monmore semi finals – hopefully with quotes and views – following the trap draws on Monday.
