My apologise again folks for the lack of updates on this here blog. Unfortunately life has been rather hectic recently, and I just haven't had the time to sit down and jot down my ramblings for you to enjoy. Alas, here is my belated nonsense.
The big thing to come out of Swindon this week was the Easter Eggstravaganza, where the Hutton and Foster camp's dominated proceedings, with the 'Burford Mob' (as I have now aptly named the kennel!) winning four of the six races. In fairness, credit where credit is due, their charges were quite honestly head and shoulders above the competition. Paul Foster (can't really dub them the 'Next-Door-To-The-Kennel's Mob really?) picked up two very good wins, one of which, Swift Kennedy, I must say was the shock of the day!
The general feeling with this competition, however, is that alot of people don't really seem particularly bothered by this competition, and I must say, me included. It doesn't seem to have the 'buzz' about it that the Intertrack competition in the winter does, and seems to be merely an added extra into the calendar, that most people don't really understand the rules about!
Now, I'm of the opinion that any extra money that is pumped into the sport has to be a good thing, and I think the overall added sum is something like £120,000, which is superb. However, one does wonder whether this competition really works as a competition itself. 16 races on finals day, although hopefully proving to be a good days racing, sounds to me like overkill. Again, one can understand wanting to utilize the fact that there is no horse racing on Good Friday, so greyhound's takes center stage.
I know that logistically it probably isn't possible, as the scope in class of grades is so great at different tracks, but my feeling is that the graders, who cover most of the BAGS racing in all honesty, could and should be rewarded in some way. Why not some competitions at each track, culminating in a final at one of the tracks on the day? See, even writing that I understand how illogical and stupid that sounds, however there has to be some way of incorporating the graders into more of these inter-track shindigs, rather than the borderline (and in some case, out and out) class dogs that take centre stage otherwise.
Enough of my moaning however, leading into some good news. The Arc is back! This year, it's sponsored by Pinpoint Recruitment. Like me, you might know them as 'those blokes who have the good dogs with Kelly Macari'. In all seriousness, a big thank you for their kind sponsorship, and furthermore there increased portfolio of sponsored greyhound races, as I notice they've sponsored a fair amount of races (mostly at their home track, and Newcastle). The dates for the competition are as follows:
1st Round: Friday 19th April 2013 BAGS (6 races, 36 runners)
Semi Finals: 26th April 2013 BAGS (3 races, 18 runners)
FINAL: Wednesday 1st May 2013
As an Open Race follower primarly, I'm mega excited for this competition once again, further more because of the altered format. I know amongst some that the above format isn't particularly favoured, however I like it. I think it makes it all to play for in the semi finals, rather than the mindset to sneak through in 3rd place. I would like to see a competition where in the 1st round the 1st 2 home go through, I think that could work quite well, with then the first 3 through in the semi finals (very Greyhound Manager 2-esque for anyone who knows the PC game!)
This Tuesday evening also ushers in a new era of Sky Sports coverage, with the first meeting in the new format taking place. I say new, it's more altered slightly. It's the same team in charge, mostly the same competitions on the scene. In actual fact, it's just different time slots at the moment. It's far too easy to criticize before the program has even gone out, but all I will say is that the program should take the opportunity to make itself different from the previous show. Take the opportunity to change things up and bring in some new ideas.
Back to the graded racing at Swindon, and things seem to be going very well at the moment. The track itself has a good strength of dogs, with a good mix of grades and styles, making what, in my opinion, has been some cracking racing recently. The one thing I will say is that, with the Eggstravaganza taking place and the necessity for graded stayers and sprints, is that I hope that these stayers and sprint grades can be formalized and used more. On the evening meetings in particular, there's nothing better than a bit of variety.
I will make a promise now that I will update this here blog every week on a Sunday, the same as I will the runners/wins table on the racing information sections (kindly nabbed from the GTA website, thank you Mr. Holloway!).
I'm looking at a complete redesign for this website in the coming weeks, as quite frankly I get bored with looking at the same thing all the time! I'm after your ideas as to what you would like to see on the website, and what things possibly you want rid of! Any suggestions will be taken on board (though derogatory remarks might not be so!), so please feel free to either comment underneath this blog post, or let me know at the track.
Happy Punting!
Wattsy
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