It was a great 3rd Round for Team Lolly in the Derby with all 3 of our remaining runners progressing! Holdem Spy was one again mightily impressive in victory and the other 2 ran with credit to qualify so let’s hope they can get in the top 3 again tonight. It’s a cracking card this evening for the “Night of Passion” at Wimbledon which is celebrating 86 years of the much-maligned track; us hounds want to work in London and it would be a travesty for us if the track were to close to build some human kennels, we cannot let it happen! So let’s all get behind the celebration this evening and show what a great night us dogs can put on! As ever, I have found some value for the Lolly Faithful to get us some much needed doggie treats after a few paw weeks:

19:34 – Puppy

The young tykes have a go here and if ever there was a form guide to go on, it is the one between Droopys Jarrow and Millwards Teddy. It seems to me that they will only race if they are facing each other these days and with the class of the others likely to be exposed, I expect it to be a good tussle between Jarrow and Teddy. I am backing the latter purely because I think the trip is more suited and he has crucially has had a sighter (clocking a rapid 28:44 on fast going) and he can get a tow from the early-paced Irish raider Tynwald Bish. Jarrow is perhaps the speedier of the two in the clear, but without a look and his penchant for running into dogs as opposed to round them, Teddy can assert round the third bend and win this.

19:49 – Marathon

There was a lot of barking about the potential of Old Refrain over a marathon trip before her debut and she was mightily impressive at Hove on her extreme staying bow. There are a few potential improvers over this trip like Watch N Learn and Black Francis, but Refrain looked a really classy bitch on the bunny and her trial time suggests she has taken to the track well enough.

20:04 – Stayers

Tyrur Sugar Ray is a welcome addition to this card as his class throughout his career (dual Irish Derby finalist, English Derby Semi-Finalist) is without question, but this is his true staying bow and whilst he has his trap 1 box, he will face the task of getting past the ever-game Droopys Posh. If he can clear her early enough he may simply have too much pace but it is a big step up from 600 yards to 687 metres and with that in mind, he is reluctantly taken on here. Droopys Ed Moses is a dog with a completely different set of gears when he wants them and the fact he has been trapping of late is a concern for any of his colleagues. He liked running at Wimbledon last year in the Derby and whilst his omission from the St. Leger last year was quite simply baffling, he can show why he would have given every dog bar the living legend Farloe Tango a good race in that competition.

20:19 – Quarter Final 1

So here we go – the Quarter Finals of the Derby! First up for Team Lolly is Vanrooney who I thought ran well last week considering he decided to go on the inside round the 3rd bend which was by all accounts, dead ground on Saturday. There are no easy races or qualification spots from herein but he should take to the quick runs because of his powerful style and he can swoop late here. Aero Nemesis has been impressive throughout this competition but he definitely steps right out of the boxes and so he will need to be paw perfect to be able to clear the rapidly improving Thatchers Champ and the track-record holder, Fiery Splendour. Splendour ran pawly after missing the break on Saturday and will need to step up his game here as Brother John has shown he doesn’t want to go back to his kennel empty pawed yet and Salad Dodger will be running on gamely too. None, however, will be running on quite like Vanrooney and he can pinch this if it becomes a mess in front.

20:34 – Quarter Final 2

The other two members of Team Lolly face each other here in Sidarian Teejay and Holdem Spy. The latter, Jimmy (presumably named after me), has been simply awesome throughout 2014 and let’s hope he can stay fit to see if he can make amends for oh-so narrowly missing out on the Derby Final last year. Crokers Champ will be blazing a trail in front as he does, but that should give Teejay a nice tow to be able to hopefully get up to qualify. The Spy doesn’t lose many.

20:49 – Quarter Final 3

The form of the Scottish Derby is holding up extremely well and Mind The Net has come from Shawfield (having lost to Holdem Spy in the Final) to put in some determined and gutsy efforts. This desire was shown on Saturday where he turned behind Jordans Brianna and proceeded to mow down Charlie Lister OBE’s charge with a scintillating turn of paw. He has enough early to lead Jet Stream Duke and Ecclestone on the outside and with Ballymac Loch and Jaytee Hawaii likely to cause themselves and Metro Jack problems on the inside, Mind The Net can progress with a win here.

21:04 – Quarter Final 4

Jordans Brianna has been quietly going about his work in this tournament and the fact he is yet to fully ping like me out of his favoured red box, means that he can make amends here and assert. He got caught by Mind The Net in the 3rd Round but plugged on gamely to fend off Vanrooney for 2nd and that sort of effort can win this. He will have to lead by some way but he has a great draw to work from with the slow away Droopys Ward and Farley Chicken next to him. Roxholme Ted has yet to have a rival in front of him in the tournament but he has shown vulnerability around the 3rd bend and so will need to ping to not only clear the early-pace of Farloe Trent on his inner, but also to lead Brianna as I cannot foresee Ted back-running dogs at this stage of the tournament. That, coupled with the fact he may be even more exposed than his rivals to the short runs due to his tender age, means that he is emminently opposable in favour of the quietly progressive Jordans Brianna, who is 6 from 7 out of trap 1.

21:19 – Bitches

The bitches put on a display here to finish the proceedings and there is no classier bitch on the circuit at the moment than Greenwell Lark. She showed in the 2nd Round that when given a weak field, she can obliterate them and with Bubbly Beauty (the Puppy Derby winner over Course and Distance) her only real opposition, Lark can put on another breathtaking display of pace on the outside.

Here are the recommendations:

21:19 – Greenwell Lark – 1 chewstick @ 5/4

So there are my thoughts on the proceedings! As ever, please tweet me if you have any comments and I promise to bark back at you with as much enthusiasm as I will be displaying when Holdem Spy unleashes his pace down the back tonight! In the so-barked “Week of Death”, let’s hope Team Lolly can remain intact and move forward to the Semi-Finals on Saturday!

Enjoy the racing,

Jimmy