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