It could be a huge night for us hounds at work as humans across the land (and abroad) attempt to win a life-changing sum of doggie treats as they play for the Totepool Pick 6 Jackpot estimated to be £500,000!  The action is at the perfect venue for an event like this as Hall Green provides remarkable results so favourite backers who think they can go through the card on the shorties for the half-a-million pool should think again twice!  Local knowledge is a huge asset at the Midlands circuit and it is almost imperative that a dog has had a look (at the second bend in particular) as the amount of dogs that run off at these tight bends is numerous!  As ever I have found some value for the Lolly Faithful and I have also provided insight for you to get your paws on some of the jackpot; I would advise to follow my perm selections at the bottom of this page if you want to dine in style with me tonight:

19:11 – Puppy

The young tykes kick off the excitement this evening and in what is a limited field in terms of potential, Likeitalot is a worthy favourite.  His lack of course knowledge and the fact he is out as wide as 4 suggests the Northern Puppy Derby finalist could be worth taking on here with a well-drawn local in Ballymac Eil.  Eil is gradually working his way up the ranks here and he can lead the 1 and Teejays Panther in order to poach a cheap lead here.  The presence of Panther and the fact he moved so wide in his trial around the second bend (typically) could be a hazard for Likeitalot unless he can get a flier and clear the wide-moving Panther inside him.  See No Gamble is well-housed out wide but his trial round was hardly electric and he was woeful when well-backed at Romford last time.

19:26 – Stayers

Chaotic Dotty has been the subject of a gamble throughout the course of the day with her superb 39:19 trial round here looking impressive in the context of this race as she can follow Farloe Lara around and give her a beating.  That barked, however, is that whilst Dolly is unexposed she is also unproven and is too short to back up the fast trial.  Look instead to the erratic and sometimes appaling Farley Rio to have one of his good days and show his Sunderland Grand Prix winning form against much inferior opposition to those tonight.  His main rival for class is Borna Champ but a slow-away weaving galloping dog is not what you need at this track and he looks too short based on his reputation rather than his suitability.  Rio is arguably too big but the clear value in this race has long gone with the 9/2 Dolly disappearing faster than I used to come out of the traps (and that was quick!).

19:43 – JACKPOT LEG 1 – Maiden

Those pesky humans have not made winning this jackpot easy with two maidens out of the 6 races to become a half-millionaire and we luckily begin here with a 5 runner affair.  River Ali looks well-drawn and should be included in those permutations but Tyrur Susan has an absolute solo with the wide dog being withdrawn and this progressive local bitch can hopefully get us through to the next round; making it through this race looks the toughest assignment of the jackpot!

19:59 – JACKPOT LEG 2 – Sprint

Everyone’s favourite race gets us back to normality here and this can go the way of the experienced reliable pinging railer Cape Impact.  He will have to clear the dropping in trip but useful early of Ilewin Allot but he is more than capable of mucking it with the best and Impact looks a big price to outclass these.  Mister Hondo is running-out-of-his-skin and should be included with a decent looking prep trial as part of his form.  Kavarna has been flying out of the traps at his home track and not only can he hold up the favourite, Goes Hot, he could also spring a surprise as he flew out of these traps in a trial, too.

20:16 – JACKPOT LEG 3 – Standard

A pretty decent affair here but when Express Master is in form and pinging he is one of the best dogs in the country for me and he can follow up his extremely useful 28:22 over the course-and-distance.  He will have to clear the Monmore raider Whittle Eagle who can show some class on his day but Master has mucked it with the best around the country.  Sidarian Blitz will have to clear Fred The Pilot but he has huge pace (especially when he was in Ireland) and he is worth including should the Master fluff his lines.

20:33 – JACKPOT LEG 4 – Super Stayers

There’s nothing particularly “Super” about staying in my eyes but nonetheless this is a decent race and it is worth getting three dogs onside in an intriguing affair.  Black Francis is in the form of his life but he has no look at the track so is impossible to back solely on his own, he is however worth including.  Great Deal has a ping in her and won well at the Monmore Winter Festival in a similar race to this when the classy Millwards Teddy had no answer for her once she got on the bunny.  A tough decision here for the jackpot should also include Kakantu who ran the track very well in a four bend workout and whilst he is perhaps not the most reliable week-in-week-out, he could ping out and not be caught here as he gets the trip with ease at Romford.

20:51 – JACKPOT LEG 5 – Maiden

If you’ve made it this far you are now starting to dream of huge leather sofas covered in chewstix, pieces of brown bread and breasts of chicken but the job is not over yet and back the best local Droopys Gooch to account for a paw field here.  Not much beats Gooch around here and his ever-dependable 28:40 should be far too much for these.  It is worth including Carlow Bolt who is well-drawn, has plenty of early and was more than a match for Pinpoint Maxi in Ireland when they met which is an extremely impressive formline in the context of what that colleague has achieved over here reaching multiple Category One finals.

21:08 – JACKPOT LEG 6 – Prestige Final

The concluding leg of this mammoth night for us hounds sees the Prestige Final which is a worthy prize in itself!  It’s not quite £500,000 though and so here we should give a chance for Dinzeo to poach an unassailable lead.  When he was caught by Supreme Turbo in the Semi-Finals he was arguably waiting for his colleague but he only lost by a short-head and his time reflects well in terms of the 6/4 favourite, Billys Bullet.  15/2 is simply too big on Dinzeo being ahead at the line (where it matters) as he has competed with the best at Sheffield with huge distinction and deserves his place in this big final.  For the purposes of the jackpot, it is worth including the favourite here too who, as a brother of Touch Tackle, could simply be too good for all of these by a long way with a clear run.  As she won her Semi-Final by 8 lengths and is the reigning Midland St. Leger champion, it would be hard not to include Wiki Waki Woo to complete that elusive jackpot combination!

Here are the recommendations:

19:59: Cape Impact – 1 doggie treat @ 5/1

20:16 – Express Master – 1 piece of bread @ 5/2

20:51 – Droopys Gooch – 1 chewstick @ 2/1

21:08 – Dinzeo – 1 dog bone @ 15/2

JACKPOT RECOMMENDATION:

Leg 1 (19:43):  5 – 1
Leg 2 (19:59):  2 – 3 – 5
Leg 3 (20:16):  2 – 6
Leg 4 (20:33):  1 – 4 – 6
Leg 5 (20:51):  4 – 6
Leg 6 (21:08):  1 – 2 – 3

216 lines*£1

So there are my thoughts on the proceedings!  As ever, please tweet me (especially with YOUR Jackpot bets) and I promise to bark back at you quicker than Express Master comes out the traps tonight!  It should be a packed grandstand and I will be in attendance, in my expensive shades so nobody recognises me!

Enjoy the racing,

Jimmy

So here we are in 2015!  With the extension of the Sky Greyhounds coverage to give us hounds even more of the spotlight that we deserve (7 to 9:30pm tonight) it promises to be a great year with even more events being televised!  The first of which is the final of the Coronation Cup at Romford where Adageo Bob looks to land the major prize over this course and distance that he deserves.  He has been hindered previously by one instance of paw trapping and one of being stuck in a van on the motorway to deny him a title at his favourite track but tonight he can makes amends.  Those on him antepost at 3/1 should be sitting (or lying) pretty comfortably on their sofas and it will take a great effort to deny him cruelly again.  Elsewhere, there is a decent card to paw off the year and as ever, I have found the value for the Lolly Faithful:

19:11 – Puppy

The young tykes have a go here and even if he can’t envisage it himself, there looks certain to be some doggie treats down for See No Gamble.  He has recently found his paws at Towcester (which is increasingly looking a Romford-esque track) and then clocked the fastest time of the day in a bumper trials session last week; that included many of my colleagues that are running tonight so it was a serious time and with his draw, he has to be backed despite being so inexperienced.  It is always a bit of a lottery in backing these young tykes as they can do anything at any point but he is in a rich vein of form and I fancy him to power to the bend and draw clear of these down the back for an unassailable lead.  Lenson Jed is of interest having posted some decent trials and having mixed it in better company than this, but he has never come out of trap 1 in his short career and whilst he may enjoy it, he is an uneasy favourite due to this in my dog’s honest opinion.  Aimnfire has ran against the best of his generation in the country but has always come up a bit short and whilst he does look slightly big, he would prefer a berth in 3 or 4 for me.  See No Gamble to land the spoils in an impressive display here.

19:26 – Marathon

Much has been made of the pros and cons of match racing but this looks a fascinating contest between Festival Time and Burgess Borna.  Whilst it is not totally out of the question that Supreme Rossie can get involved, she has benefited from trouble in running (particularly for Time) to beat her at Towcester and with so few runners it is hard to see the necessary hold-ups for Stuart Buckland’s bitch to be a factor here.  Based on the prices, it has to be Time here as she nearly made the bend at Crayford when losing to Borna (sent off odds-on favourite that day) and whilst Borna stays and should get into the lead early enough, Time has gears that are very impressive.  It is also worth noting that Borna lost on this very card this time last year so she is not bulletproof and at 4/7, she looks plenty short enough against a frustrating but pacey competitor like Time.   This should be a good one!

19:43 – Standard

Putdownyourfoot won the Monmore 416 competition at their Winter Festival for the Lolly Faithful and back at his favourite track, he is overpriced to account for the grand old servant that is Bubbly Rocket.  Rocket has been running out of his hair recently but whether trap 1 truly suits him is questionable (tends to step right from it) and he will have to be on his paws to beat a pinging Putdownyourfoot to the bend.  It is probably a race to leave alone but Lann Jacob is also of interest as he nearly landed a pretty sizeable gamble last week when he very nearly made the bend at a big price (half a length in front when brought down by a running off Razldazl Banjo); he could run well at a price if he breaks like he did there and perhaps the tricast is one to look at for those humans desperate to get involved.

19:59 – Standard

A classy affair here which has the look of a Trial Stakes for the Golden Sprint that is coming up in March.  In that, Geelo Vegas could be a big player if he confirms his Irish form that he stays 400m.  The National Sprint winner is all about pinging like me and dashing to the bend nearly as quickly as me and with that brilliant combination, he is always a force to be reckoned with.  In Ireland (as Boher Cashen Joe) he used his early over 480m in the Munster Derby to great effect at Clonmel and whilst he was struggling to finish the full trip, he stayed at least the 400m there (which is required here) and was still not caught on his final 2 efforts over that true four bend distance.  It will be interesting to see whether his humans are considering a Golden Sprint to the Derby route (famously executed to perfection by Blonde Snapper) but for now, he is way overpriced to lead this field and not be caught.  Dower Matt is the local hero but he is a confidence dog who puts together a sequence and then finds it hard to win again for a while; if he can lead here he will not be caught but it is wise to wait for him to win again before considering him, especially considering he will have to clear the useful early of Evanta Fantasy and Puckane Joe on his inner.  Joe has never won out of 1 (from 3 attempts) and has some slow away comments from that box which should worry his backers but he can prove himself enough of a nuisance to hinder Fantasy and Matt.  Express Max is erratic at the start but he is a danger if trapping (which is not that often in all honesty) but even then a level break should see Vegas have too much for him.  Buoy Johnny is the only dog that really stays further than this in the race but he will have to produce an absolute flier for him to get competitive (unless it becomes very messy).  Vegas is drawn here to go straight up the middle, lead off the second bend and now he has got his lungs following two trials over the trip, he won’t be caught.

20:16 – Stayers

The Coronation Cup consolation here and Blonde Razor will have too much for these if he can ping out.  He did, however, fluff his lines last time out and any sort of break like that can see these pretty solid Romford performers capitalise on his weaknesses.  Perhaps the least dependable is Farley Rio but he is the wrong price to produce the sort of run that saw him win a heat of the 2nd Round of the Irish Derby and be sent off favourite twice round here last year (ahead of Razor).  He is an inconsistent sort but 12/1 is simply too big for his ability as when he is on a going day, he can lead from the front or overtake dogs when he fancies it.  He is well drawn here with the 3 and 2 railing and the 5 and 6 being restaurant-wide so Rio can get himself into a useful pitch and unleash the pace we have all seen that is there.  If Razor gets a flier this race is over in a matter of 2 yards but Rio is the value if that does not happen.

20:33 – Bitches

I love watching a good bitches contest and here we have a decent one to salivate over.  Aayamzaone is undoubtedly a very talented bitch but she has found one too good the last few weeks and whether her bubble has slightly bursts suggests she is worth taking on at a prohibitive 11/10.  That and the fact that Paradise Abbey has useful early inside her suggests that the favourite could be held up here long enough for one of the others to get away.  That could be in the form of Millwards Katy who posted the 3rd fastest time ever round this track two weeks ago, but her effort on Friday brought her back down to Earth and anything like a tardy exit as that will see her challenge ended.  That brings us to Slick Seaview who is well-drawn, has course form and is being underrated as her form as Miss Ballatelli in Ireland reads very well in the context of this; she must have had her injury problems leading her to question “why always me?” but she beat some useful pingers here at the end of last year on the 7th November to back-up her very-quick-away antics at Shelbourne when posting decent times like 28:87 for their standard trip in A1s.  She can lead up the 2 and Katy will be looking for at least the middle ground so Seaview can squeeze round the inside and rail these into submission.  Well, at 7/1 at least, she looks too big to do so.

20:51 – Marathon

The interesting runner without question in this race is the once 2014 Derby favourite Vanrooney stepping up to 8 bends for the first time.  It isn’t as big a step as first pawceived though as he has won handsomely at Towcester over their 686m 6 bends and he hasn’t looked like he was in particular discomfort at the line when winning those races.  He could well and truly be miles clear of these after 3/4 of the race and so it may actually become immaterial if he stays or not.  Whilst he is no value at such a short price as 13/8, Borna Champ is probably the only colleague of mine capable of getting near him if he does fluff his lines.

21:06 – Coronation Cup Final

This race is all about the run-up and whether Adageo Bob can get a clear run.  If he does, it is all over as whilst he has not been finishing his races this calendar year in the flourishes that saw him equal the track record here last year, he is still posting the fastest times consistently out of any of these.  His draw isn’t disastrous as Soviet Kenny stays wide and he should lead the 4, so he can turn at least handy enough round the second before unleashing his scintillating middle pace.  Much has been made of how well Vanfrenchie is drawn and whilst he does have the rails to himself (Hometown Day does not rail ever), it is hard to see how he can catch either Bob, Marian or Kenny on the bunny so arguments for him are relying on a lot of trouble in front (which is not inconceivable).  Bob deserves this title and whilst that doesn’t entitle him to it, it would be a shame for my colleague not to collect this prize.

Here are the recommendations:

 19:11 – See No Gamble – 1 doggie treat @ 9/4

19:59 – Geelo Vegas – 2 pieces of bread @ 11/4

20:16 – Farley Rio – 1 dog bone @ 12/1

20:33 – Slick Seaview – 1 breast of chicken @ 7/1

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 faster than Geelo makes the bend tonight!  After he wins, we can all get out our doggie passports and head for a Winter trip to Vegas!

Enjoy the racing,

Jimmy