Well, two weeks is a long time in greyhound racing and after my holidays I’ve returned to see how some of my colleagues have put in some great performances recently. Whilst I was running round having a wail of a time there have been some exhillirating battles on both sides of the Irish sea which brings me to the epic Irish Derby final; watching Skywalker Puma in full flight was a joy to behold as he picked up the courageous Cuil Cougar but the best moment over the past few weeks has to be the reaction of connections to Smiler Jack’s victory who was mightily impressive in the Champion Stakes. Could he rectify his mistake in the heats and ping from the red box? Of course he could! Then followed a tremendously brave first bend to squeeze past the unfortunate Be Real and it was all over bar the shouting and tears from his emotional trainer. It was great to see such passion and sheer joy shown on the screens!

So as that tournament ends, another begins at Hove tonight on Racing Post TV with a great line-up for a Category Two tournament. What better time to start a competition called the Greyhound Olympic after the success of Team GB this summer. It’s about time us dogs started getting some praise for the training hours that we put in like these human athletes and its disappointing how a bidding war for TV rights between the BBC and Channel 4 hasn’t materialised for this Olympic competition. Anyway, I am still proud of my colleagues achievements whatever the outcome of our Olympics and here’s a dog’s thoughts on the heats:

19:46 – Heat 1

Demonstrating the class of this field is the fact that Sawpit Sensation is in double-figure odds to win this tournament despite being one of the best in-form dogs in the country over a middle-distance. He lit up Shelbourne Park in the Irish Derby with some explosive performances to reach the Quarter-Finals and his unfortunate withdrawal due to a trivial injury was terribly unlucky as he looked a dog who was destined to qualify all the way to the final: who knows what would have happened if he had turned second to Cuil Cougar! Besides thinking about that hypothetical situation, he has a tremendous draw to demonstrate why he impressed our Irish neighbours so much in their premier competition. His back-straight pace is frightening! With Millwards Blag having a far from ideal draw in the red box for him, he is more than likely going to hinder the chances of Holycross Prince who would have to reproduce his last run round the Hove track to get competitive which is unlikely. Sensation looks plotted up here to continue his winning run in the UK to six from six and odds-against quotes should be pounced upon as fast as I used to come out of the boxes!

20:02 – Heat 2

This is an interesting heat which may be over at the boxes if Bridge Honcho gets a flier, as he would then surely go on to justify the support he has had for the race. His guarantee of an early-lead is questionable though as he has mid-to-wide galloper Hugo You Go on his inside who coarses the hare and has flown from the boxes in his last two outings before being picked up over the 575m distance at Romford which is too long for him. Further question marks surround Honcho’s trapping consistency as he was a notoriously tardy trapper in Ireland and this flaw seems to be creeping back into his game in the UK with his early-pace often being hampered by being left behind at the boxes: he is worth taking on. A true track-stalwart looks the call in Kilmore Say Go who loves this track nearly as much as I did and is written off round this South-Coast track at your peril. He beat Honcho recently at odds of 4/1 and so surely looks value for a repeat at odds of 4/1 (bookies really are unimaginative at times aren’t they!).

20:18 – Heat 3

Regular readers of the dog blog will know that the Lolly is not a massive fan of Sakara Star but his recent form figures are encouraging with him utilising his undoubted scintillating pace to win more races recently. His limitations remain though as although he won his last race, it does not paint the whole story as he actually ran into the crowding at the third bend instead of running round it and should have won more emphatically than he did so. In saying that he is always a huge danger! Another dog that failed to impress last time out was Maireads Dandy who’s Irish reputation went before him in his debut round here in a facile success before stepping up in trip to what seemed his ideal course and distance of 575m at Romford: he did not live up to expectations and ran very flat. A dog should always be forgiven for one bad performance (we aren’t machines you know – although at times I did a good job of creating the illusion I was!) but the best option in a tight heat is to rely on Tullna Hawk breaking better than he has done and to build up a winning advantage at his local track. Hawk is a nice sort who rarely loses me too many of my beloved doggie treats.

20:34 – Heat 4

Wow! This heat has the look of the Sussex Cup final about it and therefore the quotes of 9/4 on Airlie Impact (who was sent off odds-on in that final) look huge to my eyes. There is a question over his fitness and the fact he ran a shocker in the aforementioned final (remember a dog’s allowed one bad race – just the one though!) but he loves it round here and drawn in six he should get a great run round the outside tonight. The unproven but highly-rated Britania Richard could be anything but his presence might just halt Westmead Maldini’s progress enough throughout the race to stop Maldini spoiling the party as he is never one to ignore in any race. Another that requires a lot of thought is why Mark My Words is such a big price (around 8/1) over arguably his ideal trip; yes he has been a little flat of late but he looks way too underrated in this line-up and will surely have some shrewd support at some stage. Speaking of shrewd support, Impact is well worth many of my doggie treats tonight as he should surely be closer to evens than he is.

20:50 – Heat 5

On looking at this heat there was one question that sprung to mind: Lenson Bob, how far? It is of course wrong to assume anything is a foregone conclusion in greyhound racing (ask backers of 1/10 Bayllmac Eske and 1/8 Farloe Tango earlier in the year!) but it is hard to envisage any other eventuality than a facile trap-to-line success for Bob here. His ability against top class opponents is questionable and he will need to prove himself to get competitive in the competition whole, but this looks nearly as certain as Mario Balotelli taking a penalty kick and the mercurial and at most times perplexing talent has even been heard in the City training ground asking people: Why always Bob?

21:06 – Heat 6

So here he is, the greyhound of the moment, Ballymac Eske. If Lenson Bob has a penalty kick, this race is effectively a tap-in from two yards that even Michael Owen could score these days despite reports he is due to start up-front for Stoke at the weekend with his trademark zimmerframe (quite a football-related theme today I know – you thought greyhounds were just interested in hares and exceptionally comfortable sofas!). Anyway, Eske’s step up to all-aged company should go without any problems for the speed-machine himself and although his record is 0 from 2 at Hove, he should get his campaign off to an impressive start today. The interesting runner is the strong Droopys Xavier who could run well for each-way backers and I’m going to break a bone in half to have him to come second at over 3/1: I just hope he can see the hare for long enough!

Antepost Thoughts

Quotes of 5/4 seem far too short for Ballymac Eske as he has proven in his brief career that he is beatable and their are some nice sorts with good form round Hove in this field; there is no doubt if he leads each race that he will be extremely difficult to beat however. Regular dog blog readers will know that Lolly loves a bit of value and with Eske being so short, there is plenty around. I woke up this morning to hear that Sawpit Sensation was 20/1 and my paws couldn’t turn on the computer fast enough to try and put an entire week’s supply of ‘Dentastix’ on him each-way (a dog’s got to look after his teeth you know!) but I was disappointed he was now 16/1 and decided to wait to see if he went out again. After a brief nap on the sofa, I then discovered he was 14/1 and cursing my incessant need for forty winks I am now reluctantly going to leave him off my antepost selections as his value is now about right to me. He will no doubt go on to show 14/1 is still too big on him but I much prefer the 10/1 about Airlie Impact. He is a dog that can win from the front or use his back-straight pace to haul in his rivals on this galloping circuit and he looks value to at least reach the final. If Eske makes any mistakes in the competition and is eliminated, the 10/1 on Impact becoming Olympic Champion will look huge and his efforts might just sneak him onto the ever-growing list of Sports Personality of the Year contenders. Impact has far more personality in the kennels than Wiggins but maybe I’m biased!

So there are a dog’s thoughts on the Greyhound Olympics and hopefully some of my selections will pick up gold medals tonight. I’m particularly looking forward to the Opening Ceremony at Hove tonight with rumours of Britain’s Got Talent winner Pudsey doing a special routine for the crowds, but despite the fact I am not jealous at all of his ability to walk backwards and dance to music – he can’t trap as fast as I can, can he?

Enjoy the racing,

Jimmy