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