The top 6 humans that us hounds work so enthusiastically for battle it out tonight at the new focal point of the sport: Towcester.  It will be the first true test of the track and its perceived biases so let’s hope it can dispel the myths and have this night set us up in preparation for the Derby in a couple of months time!  The nature of the scoring system in this competition lends itself to the winner managing to pick up points in races with some of their less favoured dogs and thus a team with strength in depth is often required as opposed to the humans with a few “good things” who could easily come unstuck in such competitive racing.  For that reason I feel that the value lies in my charming old boss, Seamus Cahill, who despite not needing to train me that much as I was that good, has assembled a useful team thanks to his cracking setup.  So you will be able to hear me barking on my old friends as we hopefully march to a victory at 4/1 for #TeamCahill.  Also, as ever I have found the value for the Lolly Faithful throughout the card and the ever-popular Lolly Goliath should hopefully bring us some nice winners along the way!

7:11 – Standard C

A nice starting dish here like a chipolata wrapped in bacon before my meat feast main meal (if you will) can see the well-drawn Roswell Iceman paw things off for the favourite Mark Wallis.  He is capable of pinging out at his home circuit and as a lover of the rails, can lead the slow-away Slippery Amigo to the corner and string them out; if Towcester is biased towards the rails, this colleague of mine will demonstrate why.  Glenkeel can be useful on his day but seems to throw in some bizarre swerving manouevres into his running which is far from ideal (demonstrated in his trials at Hall Green and his last at Towcester).  Ballymac Lyster is without doubt an extremely fast hound for #TeamCahill and we are hoping he picks up points here but his head-banging of the traps accompanied with his penchant for running into dogs instead of round them is frustrating to say the least!  Iceman to rail them off in a classic Towcester victory for me.

Selection: T2  – Roswell Iceman

7:26 – Sprint

Everyone’s favourite race here is hard to fathom with the terrible form of favourite Ela Ela Genie offset by the fact he is in his much favoured red box.   At the prices he is no value and instead if he fluffs his lines (which he is more than capable of doing), the quietly proficient Jumeirah Maximus could easily have shown them a clean set of paws.  Droopys Trapeze is dangerous for sadly retiring human Jimmy Wright but he would much rather be drawn further inside and is not to the same level of Wright’s superstar of last year Walshes Hill.

Selection: T2 – Jumeirah Maximus

7:43 – Puppy

The humans in the Mullins camp are bursting with enthusiasm at the prospects of Mad About Eoghan and he did not disappoint with a track record performance in his debut over the course and distance.  Whilst it is a relatively new trip and few class races have been put over the distance, it was still mightily impressive for the young tyke to lower the clock against some useful prospects.  Most eyes will be on the wonder-litter representative Dorotas Wildcat but he has looked very green in his efforts under race conditions so far and whilst he is one to keep onside when he figures his work out, for now I would rather side with Eoghan pinging like me again and putting on a display of brute pace for one so young.

Selection: T2 – Mad About Eoghan NAP

7:59 – Stayers

A nice competitive affair here that has the enigma that is Coconut Corker stepping up to a true 6 bends for #TeamCahill.  He is surely too big at 8/1 to hopefully come out level (as he often misses the break hopelessly) and then pace up to make the corner.  Whether he stays the 655m is a question that will have to be answered if he leads but he has every right to pace up ahead of genuine 6 bend dog Memphis Mafia and the marathon hound Dashing Star.  Rubys Rascal is always sent off short in my dog’s honest opinion as he is undoubtedly talented but is hardly consistent enough to warrant his starting prices: especially if he is led up.  Droopys Dart is simply a dog without a trip and so it is hard to see him posing a huge threat to Corker if they turn together.  This could be a huge scalp for #TeamCahill: come on Corker!!!

Selection: T2 – Coconut Corker

8:16 – Standard B

A dog that has 500m Derby written all over him is Brinkleys King who is drawn to put these to the sword tonight and post his credentials for the most coveted prize of them all.  With the 5 moving in he can assert on the outside and perhaps show that the wide dogs can run the track if they are good enough.  The dangers are Droopys Five who is well-capable of putting in a good run on his day and the same can be barked for Droopys Who, who has some very impressive performances amidst some lesser efforts although there is no denying he is a hard dog to catch if he can poach that pivotal early lead.  King is more of an Evs, shade of odds-on shot to me in my book so the value is on the favourite here.

Selection: T6 – Brinkleys King NB

8:33 – Bitches

Those long-serving members of the Lolly Faithful will know that I love watching a good bitches race and this could be one of the upsets of the meet.  I hang my muzzle in shame that I am going against #TeamCahill and the favourite Crossfield Molly but I’m hoping she just secures some points here.   It is her first look at the track since August and her efforts in success and defeat have over the course and distance have been blemished with how wide she runs round the circuit; she is simply running a lot further than every other dog and therefore giving up too much ground to be considered a proposition at 7/4.  Empress Katie was hugely empressive in beating an all-male lineup (bar herself) in front of the Sky cameras last week but that is more than factored into the price of a bitch who has a missed break in her when drawn too far off the rail.  The value without doubt in this race is Wright’s consistent railing bitch Droopys Bouchard who won’t look like a 10/1 shot if she leads the 2 and 3 up which is perfectly plausible.  She has decent A1 early and is a tenacious sort who is surely being relied upon to pick up some valuable points here and maybe even the surprise maximum.

Selection: T1 – Droopys Bouchard

8:51 – Super Stayers

The arrogant division of the stayers is a thrilling prospect here with Huarache Madison and Shellam Delano pitting themselves against each other from both of their favoured boxes.  Preference has to be for Hutton’s bitch who has only failed to impress when drawn horrifically in 4 at Monmore and has not put a paw wrong elsewhere this term.  Delano is the best stayer in the country for me but he has to overcome St. Leger hero Ferryforth Fran on his inside and that nagging presence of the local dog could just give Madison too much scope to rail and show her oozing class.

Selection: T1 – Huarache Madison

9:08 – Standard A

With no disrespect to my other colleagues in the race, this is a match-up between the Derby favourites here in Bubbly Bluebird and Droopys Buick! Buick sadly became ill before his challenge for Wimbledon’s last ever Derby even began but he has been so lightly-raced since that the priority has clearly been to make this year’s English Derby his chance to prove that he is the best dog on either shore for many a year.  The dog has everything.  He’s won 10 of his last 12 starts in superb company, he’s capable of lowering the sprint clock at his home track of Newcastle (in trials) and also he has the trackcraft and ability to backrun very useful dogs; it will take a huge effort to knock him out of the Derby and this is his first big test: can he lead or chase down Bluebird?  Perfectly drawn on his inner, the Paul Young aeroplane has given the Champagne Club a first genuine Derby contender for a long while.  Has he beaten that much on his way to being at the top of the market though?  It’s hard to assess and his huge challenge comes in the form of Buick tonight who has proven it at the highest level time and time again: what a race!

Selection: T3 – Droopys Buick

Here are the recommendations:

7:43 – Mad About Eoghan (2 doggie treats @ 9/4)

8:16 – Brinkleys King (2 pieces of bread @ 7/4)

8:33 – Droopys Bouchard (1 breast of chicken @ 10/1)

8:51 – Huarache Madison (1 chewstick @ 11/8)

9:08 – Droopys Buick (1 sausage @ 13/8)

So there are my thoughts on one of the best nights of the year!  The contests between the humans have been memorable down the years and as ever, if you have any comments please don’t hestitate to tweet me!  If you hear any loud barking or howling from Towcester tonight, please don’t be alarmed, it means a #TeamCahill hound is in contention: hopefully my colleagues won’t let our prestigious kennels down tonight!

Enjoy the racing,

Jimmy