Apologise for the lack of a blog in a little while. It rather dawned on me that this blog was being rather over-clogged with just OR previews, rather than actual discussion. Hence why, in this blog, I shall keep the tipping for open races a bit shorter than usual.
First and foremost I must congratulate Team Hutton on their win at Romford last night with Airport Captain in the £10,000 Champion Stakes. The run itself was one of the best I've ever seen from a greyhound. Breaking with a 13.37 sectional (a length off the sprint clock), he blitzed home by nearly 7 lengths in a new track record of 34.67. We can talk all day about track records, however I do think that this record is significant. No offence, but it isn't like out 509m record, which is only run when OR's come along. That Romford clock is one that is run on near enough every card, so it's certainly a sought-after clock, especially with the calibre of greyhound that goes round Romford. The joy with Airport Captain is that you know exactly what you're getting with him. If he pings, he wins, and if he gets on the bunny, he's a different class. Well done to all at the Hutton kennel. This is their first big win, with many more to come no doubt.
One person to also mention about is owner Mick Freshwater. Some of you may know Mick, some maybe not. Mick's a big part of the Hutton kennel, owning several good greyhounds with them. His backing, and the money he puts into the sport makes him very worthy of a big race win. Well done!
Obviously the big news coming out of Swindon is the new trainer search. With the loss of John Peterson, even with the distribution of alot of his greyhounds, we are very much down on numbers at the track. When you consider that we have 384 greyhounds a week run in all of our race meetings, and we're down to around the 360 figure, the need for another trainer is a must. Now, I understand that some owners do have grievance with their greyhounds getting runs, however there are several variables to consider in grading a race. There are some dogs on 7-10 days (meaning they can only run a maximum of once a week), some on early races (as theyre a bad kennelers), and some trainers who can't make the double meeting on a Friday. Throwing all this into the mix of unbalance within grades (for example, more railers than wides), this leaves the grader with a bit of a headache.
In an ideal world, I'd hope that a young trainer would join the ranks to basically take off where JP left off. However, these are few and far betweem. Unfortunately, compared to 6 or so years ago, trainers are no longer 'flocking' to the tracks to join, as there just aren't the trainers about. Maybe it's time to look at the trainers and owner's we've got, and maybe give them a better deal?
Now, to take a quick look at the opens this evening:
19:22 - Maiden 509'er
My Pick: Rodger
No offence, but I do think this is quite a poor quality maiden race, with not a lot really leaping off the page. Going on the way he run in his last 509er, Rodger ran an awesome race, just getting picked up by Bodell George. Don't be expecting 8/1 though!
19:52 - 480m Standard
My Pick: Panthers Legend
The obvious pick in this one may be Witcombe Dilemma. However, I have a theory about Panthers Legend. Every time she's pinged the lids, it's been day;light outside. She only seems to ping when the sun's out! I reckon (hoping the weather holds up) that she could get off to a flyer here and out-early Dilemma.
20:07 - 685m Maiden Stayers
My Pick: Bright Ells
Again, this is a case where nothing truly stands out on paper. I'll hedge my bets on the unknown quantity in Bright Ells. She's a good bitch on her day, and always looked like she'd stay further than the 480m. You're always going into the unknown when you back these greyhounds on debut over the trip, so perhaps this is a race best left alone.
20:52 - 509m Maiden
My Pick: Stanton John
Arguable for raw pace, and the actual time's clocked, Stanton John is the better dog in the race. However, Thandis Thai Ni's recent runs away (especially Henlow) aren't to be sniffed at. Both greyhounds have their quirks (all my opinion, remember!), alas a tussle between the two could be interesting. I envisage whoever leads off the 2nd wins.
21:07 - 509er
My Pick: Pookies Jess
One minor gripe before I start this, and this is the quite frankly ridiculous seeding of some of these dogs. Jacobs Courage runs from trap 1 here, when really he needs the middle ground of 4 or 5. You've then got the predicament of Gemstone Annie (who needs the rails) in trap 4?! To me, this is just ridiculous, and needs to be looked at. Whether new seeds or a central seeding distributor will do the job, I don't know. However, this does need to be looked at.
Anyway, after that rant, I really like the look of Pookies Jess here. Jim Rowe's bitch is a classy sort on the bunny, and can get a ping break from the 3. Forest Bound looks the likely challenger here, however he's a bit hit and miss trips. In my mind, he runs the 480m really strong, however he doesn't really look to stay 509m. As always, keep and eye on the Crab!
Happy Punting,
Wattsy;
No comments:
Post a Comment