A cracking card awaits us at Romford tonight with the Champion Stakes headlining the proceedings with the vast majority, if not all, of the greyhound world hoping to see Adageo Bob claim his much deserved Category One tournament at a venue where he is a legend.  Whether it has been a bad draw in the final, an utterly inspired run from Soviet Kenny or even being caught in a traffic jam on a motorway to deny his place in the tournament, Bob has been maligned in the big Romford stayers events where he is surely the best hound we have seen over the course and distance.  I’ll bark more about that race later and before it, we have some intriguing finals over various trips and as ever, I have found the value for the Lolly Faithful and the return of the Lolly Goliath so you can be involved in every race for a relatively small investment!

7:11 – Stayers

Throughout the card it must be noted that the outside has been running dead at Romford for the past few weeks (if not longer) and putting your faith in a natural wide runner is a strategy that is probably best avoided; the humans may have sorted out our work surface for this big night but Monday on their BAGS card showed no signs that there isn’t still a consistent inside bias at the Essex Track.  That is why Jet Stream Jack is value here as he rails the bends round this circuit and with the other likely front runner Swift Whirlwind taking a wide course, Jack should utilise the ground to his best advantage.  Bubbly Gold is capable of running a big race when he wants but will have to be on his toes early on as Droopys Flash can come out and will be seeking the rails which could see these two big dogs get in a barging match.  Soviet Kenny hates being in 5, let alone 4 so the draw has completely put paid to his chances and whilst Droopys Jarrow pinged out and beat Jack in the first round of the main event tonight, the make-up of the race and the likely conditions very much point to a form reversal here.

Goliath Selection: T3 – Jet Stream Jack

7:26 – Standard

Just when the dog blog was looking to make the game sound easy this evening by backing early-paced railers (a strategy that often pays dividends on a normal night at Romford), I think that Soviet Paddy is far too big from trap 6 here.  Before you think I’ve gone barking mad, in his previous venture in Essex in February he very nearly cleared the field at the bend and whilst he didn’t, he still showed that he runs the track well enough to account for this useful field that is drawn all over the place.  Clondoty Alex has been paw from 1 in the past and wants to be more middle, Who Needs Pace flops out before pacing up and trying to get to the rails, Ibiza Rocks is a dog who wants 2 and has arguably lost a yard of early in favour of middle pace these days so he could be in the pile-up that looks destined to happen here at the first.  If they all collide as expected, See No Gamble is hardly a reliable trapper out of his favoured 6 box so there is every chance he will fluff the start and so Paddy could have an absolute solo out wide to the bend here where he will hopefully chop it in front.  Then we cross our paws and hope he doesn’t go too wide as he will likely lose time on the dead ground but even so, he could be 2 or 3 lengths clear down the back and this dog gets the 462m at Yarmouth without too much worry and so it’s not a case of him not staying that could get him beat off the front here.  He looks far too big in a wide open, potentially very messy affair.

Goliath: T6 – Soviet Paddy

7:43 – Bitches Final

As regular readers will know I love a good bitches race and the draw here can sway things in favour of the likeable early pace of Emmas Memory.  She is no world beater but on her day she can ping out, hug the rails and do a 24:20 which is exactly what this race will require.  Brisk Bella has a similar profile but will be heading left and it will be tough to clear Emmas should they be at the bend together which is more than likely on sectional times.  The danger is Jolly Vegas who is potentially a class better than these but the only time she has been in 5 in her career, at Henlow, she didn’t fly out and has shown that she is a bitch who would much prefer to be drawn nearer the rail;  a fortuitous winner of her heat when strongly fancied to ping out and make-all from 1 on her first competitive start at Romford, she missed the break badly and whilst she might have learnt from that experience, it is hard to fancy her to come out of an unfavoured box having already missed it once at the track.  Emmas Memory can lead Dinner Panteli as she did a few starts back and make-all on a quick Sky track.

Goliath: T2 – Emmas Memory

7:59 – Puppy Final

The young tykes have a go here and there looks to be a nice few prospects in the line-up.  The pick of them, however, is the half-brother to Droopys Nidge (once Irish Derby favourite) and Millwards Teddy (this year’s top stayer), Droopys Story, who has been flying out round here and making all in a style that suggests he could follow in the pawsteps of his illustrious siblings.  His mother, Droopys Solange, has shown that she can throw a strong stayer (Teddy nearly caught Touch Tackle over 695m in the Regency final) and so there is every chance that Story can gallop on stronger as he gets older and he looks value here to confirm and perhaps improve on his superiority to Droopys Scion here.  Scion nearly caught Story in the heats but with a quick Sky track, the potential to get in trouble in-running, and the likeliness that Story will see the trip out stronger tonight as he is entitled to do, those pesky bookmakers are underestimating the dog that should be clear favourite here.  Johns Present has shown he is a nice progressive sort but he hasn’t got blistering early and so the presence of Goodwood Flyer in trap 1 who pings out (if forgiven her last race) and then dives straight for lane 3 or even 4: if that happens Present could have nowhere to go at a crucial point on the run-up as he will need to turn handy enough to catch Story this evening.  As ever, they are only youngsters and could potentially do anything but Story should be clear favourite for this contest as drawn and with his potential.

Goliath: T4 – Droopys Story

8:16 – Maiden Stayers

When his humans were reluctant to enter him in the Derby following a useful Arc campaign, it has now become apparent that they feel Loughteen Eoin was a stayer in the making and that he perhaps didn’t have the early of top class 4 bend colleagues; if that is the case he should be accounting for these rivals today following a decent first look at the track in the heats.  Droopys Roller is an uneasy favourite as his brothers, Teejays Panther and Porsche, have gradually been exposed as non-stayers over even this short 6 bend trip and so if Eoin misses it slightly and turns second, he could easily outstay Roller in 2.  The local bitch Carla is tailor-made for this trip but is often left hopelessly at the start and so would have to come out a lot better to compete with the dogs inside her, it’s tough to bark that she will.  In not the strongest of Sky races, Eoin is too big to big too good for these.

Goliath: T1 – Loughteen Eoin

8:33 – Standard Final

Following a favourable draw this looks a great opportunity for Jolly Ranger to complete a hat-trick from trap 1 at Romford.  Pinpoint Lad is a nice Romford dog but doesn’t rail on the run-up and Bolshoi Booze is a frightening early-paced merchant but is surely outclassed by Kevin Hutton’s charge.  Any Dak rolled back the years last week as the old boy scored following his decision that the sofa wasn’t quite right for him when he was initially retired (he must be nuts!); his problem today, however, is Reel Shirty is decent to the bend and so it is hard to see how Dak can cut the bend as he used to do so brilliantly in his pomp.  Dak is the danger but on the likely going and the opposing ends of their careers put into context, Ranger should be a solid odds-on shot here.

Goliath: T1 – Jolly Ranger

8:51 – Marathon

Now she has put her wandering tendencies behind her it really is hard to see how Bubbly Time doesn’t win this ludicrous distance by a ludicrous distance.  Drawn outside tardy starter and main market rival Ribble Atom, Time surely flies round here for two circuits.

Goliath: T2 – Bubbly Time

9:08 – Champion Stakes Final

The head must always rule the heart when it comes to tipping us hounds and Jet Stream Sound is too big to make it another near-miss in a big Romford final for Adageo Bob.  Sound went within 2 spots of the sprint clock for his sectional in the first round as he completely destroyed Lowther Stakes finalist Domino Storm to the bend (a huge scalp) and then the Henlow 550m track-record holder simply didn’t stop.  Whilst he couldn’t repeat that freakish sectional for a stayer in the semi-final, he still flew out and made-all in times that Bob has just not been finding in the competition; that is because Bob has been dropping himself out uncharacteristically over the course and distance before producing stunning back-running performances to remain unbeaten in the tournament.  The commentary for his semi-final victory when he was left helplessly at the start will live long in the memory (well worth a watch or two here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7FzUcrZlvbM) but sadly, he cannot afford to come out like that this evening against Sound who will just be gone.  Bob needs to freshen himself up and come out like he can do over a trip where he has captured the imagination of the greyhound world, then hopefully we will have a real race.

Goliath: T2 – Jet Stream Sound

Here are the recommendations:

7:11 – Jet Stream Jack – 1 doggie treat @ 2/1

7:26 – Soviet Paddy – 2 chewstix @ 6/1

7:59 – Droopys Story – 1 piece of bread @ 11/4

8:33 – Jolly Ranger – 2 sausages @ Evs

9:08 – Jet Stream Sound – 1 breast of chicken @ Evs

So there are my thoughts on the proceedings!  As ever, if you have any comments please tweet me and I promise to bark back at you quicker than Jet Stream Sound makes it to the winner’s line first time round!  It should be a great night and there will not be a bigger bark from my sofa, however, if Adageo Bob can beat him this evening despite our investment.  Woof, woof, woof!

Enjoy the racing,

Jimmy