Open Race Night: Preview

As you may have noticed, we are holding a rather large amount opens, headlined by the Abbey Taxis Marathon, over the brand new distance of 932m. I must firstly say a big thank you to Jamie and Steve of Calne racing for sponsoring this race, and I hope that the night's racing makes for excellent viewing. Personally, I've never seen a marathon run at Swindon. We used to have the distance of 933m, which some of you may be familiar with, however the 8 bend journey at our track will certainly be something to watch!

Here's my preview of the 8 open races taking place on Wednesday night:

19:37 - The Swindon Maiden 509'er
My Pick: Jammey Jimmy

1) Tarty Toes - 5/2
2) Jammey Jimmy - 2/1F
3) Stockwell Cher (M) - 4/1
4) Lisnakill Vijay (M) - 4/1
5) Dilemmas Tessa (W) - 10/1
6) Madame Pompadour (W) - 14/1

In terms of a maiden, this isn't a bad little race. There's certainly 4 dogs in there that I really think could win this. However, after his awesome performance on Saturday night, I'm siding with Jammey Jimmy in this one. Ray Jones' dog has found a good patch of form recently, winning in some style on Saturday night in a sub-29.00 time. On his Irish form, he certainly should be in this class, and he's slowly finding his feet at Swindon. He's got a great kick of early pace, and the long run over over this trip will really suit him. He also gets home strong, so everything is in his favour here! He might find some traffic problems with Tarty Toes in trap 1, as he'll be heading for the rail. The draw has worked out otherwise, with Stockwell Cher (more of a wide runner in my mind) taking the 3 box.

19:52 - The Swindon Sprint
My Pick: Forest Force

1) Forest Force - 3/1
2) Champagne Perry - 6/1
3) Headleys Ringo - 5/1
4) Dooley Gate - 10/1
5) Forest Bracken - 5/1
6) Swords Messi (M) - 2/1F

A hard sprint to fathom this, with my vote going for Mark Siddel's Forest Force. I believe this greyhound was trained by Heather Dimmock before hand (someone correct me if I'm wrong!), and one thing is that he has some decent sprint times on his card. 16.10 at Coventry isn't exactly slow. I know I'm not one to tip Trap 1 in a sprint, however I do think this race all plays into Force's hands. The obvious one to watch in this race is Swords Messi. Kevin Hutton's dog put in a blistering 16.24 trial, and has the draw on the outside.

20:07 - The Swindon Maiden 509'er
My Pick: Airport Captain (NAP)

1) Airport Captain - 1/1F
2) Pennys Lark - 10/1
3) Cimla Superstar - 4/1
4) What No Gravy (M) - 8/1
5) Bramley Finney (M) - 4/1
6) El Dreamer (W) - 10/1 

To me this looks one of those 'Home and Hosed' races, with my tip (and NAP) going to Airport Captain. Kevin Hutton's dog is on debut here, and looks a real class act. His Irish card is pretty decent, and this sort of trip looks absolutely ideal for him. My interest, however, also goes to Bramley Finney. John Peterson's runner was in all sorts of bother down at Hove last time out, but he's certainly got something about him. Certainly, this trip looks ideal for him. That's a potential forecast there, 1 to beat 5.

20:22 - The Swindon Maiden Stayers
My Pick: Silbury Campion

1) Silbury Campion - 2/1
2) Gemstone Billy - 3/1
3) Chesters Hawkeye - 5/1
4) Call Dakota - 5/1
5) Killishin Velvet (W) - 10/1
6) Romeo Absolute (W) - 5/1

My vote, once again in these stayers races, goes to Silbury Campion. I do fear, however, that I'll be tipping him over a cliff soon. It's not that he's doing anything wrong in his races, it's just he's getting beat when he should be challenging for the win. In this race, he really should lead up on the rails. To me, the only issue will be anything that collar's him coming home, namely Gemstone Billy. The most foreseen outcome here is a 1-2 forecast e/w.


20:37 - The Swindon 509'er
My Pick: Matties Mate

1) Headleys Charley - 3/1
2) Matties Mate - 3/1
3) Slippery Patch - 3/1
4) Special Release - 5/1
5) Hiding Escort (W) - 7/1
6) Crusty Crab (W) - 5/1

This is a really interesting, competitive race, with all the greyhounds in it having a realistic chance of winning. I'm going with one of the more consistent greyhounds over the trip, Matties Mate. JP's greyhound was going well at Hove last time before having his back legs taken from him, ending any chance of a win. He won an awesome race on Sky night, and has always placed over this trip. The draw should also work out, as he can lead up the red.


20:52 - The Swindon Stayers
My Pick: Droopys Harper (NB)

1) Droopys Harper - 2/1
2) Portavoe Lass - 4/1
3) Humble Times - 10/1
4) Ardmayle Molly - 3/1
5) Twisted Soul (M) - 4/1
6) Loughside Joe (M) - 10/1

Another rather difficult one to decypher here, with my vote going for the good form of Droopys Harper. Kevin Hutton's charge won a decent race on Sky night, however I do feel this is a more difficult task. I freely admit, I had my doubts that Harper would actually stay the trip, but I must say I've been proved wrong, as he seems to see it out without an issue. He's got the early pace to lead here, aswell as the strength to get home. Keep an eye out for Twisted Soul, however. Leslie Wynn's dog has been  running pretty well at Coventry, and will be one running on at the end.


21:07 - The Abbey Taxis Marathon
My Pick: Ballymac Swift

1) Ballymac Swift - 1/4
2) Fatice Cream - 10/1
3) Black Bolero - 9/1
4) Swift Kennedy - 33/1
5) Buglys Billie - 5/1
6) Swift Leah - 10/1

This, I think for most people, is going to be a sit-back-and-relax race, and to watch one of the great greyhounds at the moment in Ballymac Swift. Swift has been breaking track records for fun, and seems to just stay all day. She has early pace to burn, aswell as staying. Seriously, I don't think you can get a more complete greyhound for the staying scene. The forecast link for me is 1-5, which would be the only bet I'd have in this one.

21:22 - The Swindon Standard
My Pick - Hey Diego 

1) Waltzing Canary - 4/1
2) Dilemmas Duke - 10/1
3) Newinn Daddy (M) - 4/1
4) Liscarton Foe (W) - 10/1
5) Brizzle Blue (W) - 4/1
6) Hey Diego (W) - 7/4 

To round off the event, we have a standard open, and my vote's going for Hey Diego. Diego ran a stormer in his last race, showing off his trademark early pace. He had been rather off the boil in his racing, but last time out he looked like the classy dog that he is. A big forecast link could be the 1 dog, Waltzing Canary, who I felt ran rather well round Coventry last time.

Happy Punting!

Wattsy,

 

Swindon's Form

Derby fever certainly seems to be kicking in, with a fair few Swindon dogs having a look round Wimbledon in view of a run in the competition. The comment on the last blog with regards to the form from the competition actually made me think about the Arc as a whole (comments, by the way, are very welcome on here!)

When you look at the Arc over the last few years, I think it's fair to say that the form doesn't seem to have followed on well. Looking at the first year, Shaneboy Luke and Corrig Vieri were the big names in the first year, and arguably after the Arc there wasn't a lot of form on these dog's cards (Corrig Vieri went over a short 6, and I believe Luke only had a few more runs at OR level). Going through the other running's of the competition, the form going into other competitions isn't there. However, to me this year is different.

Due to the way the competition was run this year, including running it later, lesser entries etc, I think the quality really did stack up this year. Some greyhounds just wont run the track (take a look at Bridge Ruth, Farloe Warhawk etc), however the winner and the finalists in general look to be quite well fancied this year. Shaneboy Alley, the new track record holder and winner of the competition, I think is a real livewire to win this year's competition. He's a strong dog, with the formbook to back up what should be a credible campaign. Screen Critic, who finished 2nd to Alley, clocked a superb 28.36 in a trial round Wimbledon on Wednesday, and has been backed into 50's for the derby. He's a cracking e/w bet.

Barring the obvious runner, Ballymac Eske, and the Irish raiders such as Ballymac Vic and Roxholme Bully, you wouldn't go far wrong in looking at the Arc final for pointers.

My bets for the Derby are as follows:

Skate On - e/w 100/1
Screen Critic - e/w 66/1
Ballymac Vic - 16/1
Shaneboy Alley - 16/1

Looking Back, Looking Forward

This week, I think, has to have been one of the best weeks for Swindon. We've come off a superb Sky meeting on Wednesday, and the racing overall this week has been fab!

Looking back at the Sky production from Wednesday, I do think it was the most polished of the Sky shows. Obviously, due to the change in production company, there were always going to be teething problems with the show. Wimbledon, to me, wasn't very good at all, but things did pick up at Yarmouth and Kinsley. However, to me it was the Swindon show this week that looked more like the polished final package. Kudo's to all the guys at SIS, they're genuinely a pleasure to work with.

The racing itself, and first and foremost I must apologise for the tipping! The first two races went so well, and from there it just flatlined. However, on the night it must be said that there are no real hard luck stories. Every dog that won, won on merit. The three track records on the night was a real lift to the crowd (who were also brilliant!), and the overall winner, Shaneboy Alley, turned it into a precession. Well done to anyone who followed my AntePost picks, as I tipped Shaneboy and Screen Critic e/w for the competition.

One run that did stand out for me was that of Screen Critic in behind Alley. He's on my Derby slip off that run!

Last of all, a big thank you to Pin Point Recruitment for their kind sponsorship of the competition.