The young tykes have their most prestigious final this evening live on Sky Sports and as us hounds are being shown on Sky Sports Mix, non-suscribers to the sports channels can watch on this free-to-view service: that deserves a huge happy howl from me!!!  Since the Gymcrack moved from Hall Green to Kinsley it has grown in class year upon year and has produced a mouth-watering finale tonight that might not be all plain-tailing for the Irish favourite Cometwopass.  Kinsley is a track that divides opinions amongst my colleagues but I like to view it as the “Romford-of-the-North” with excellent catering and a tight track leading it to be tough to pass: you need to ping like I used to and get after that pesky bunny!  As ever, I have found the value for the Lolly Faithful and here are my thoughts:

7:11 – Standard

What better way to paw off the proceedings with a former champion of the main event, 2015 Stay Loose, who thrives on his racing over the course-and-distance.  Not much fools his legendary human Charlie Lister OBE in this field of work and his charge can pace up to turn handy with Bubbly Turbo here.  Turbo is a hound for me that has to lead and the eye-catching piece of form for this contest is on 1st December when Stay managed to get Loose after him at Belle Vue and caught him going away; that scenario could easily repeat itself here and at the prices he is the value.  Lightfoot Scolar is becoming frustrating with his tardy exits which should give plenty of room for the selection and Along Came Finn lives up to his name by coming along to the party after the cocktail sausages have long been gobbled up (mainly by me nom nom!!!).

Selection: T2 – Stay Loose

7:26 – Stayers

To bark that this is a hard race to call is somewhat of an understatement, even for my expert eye as a freelance journadog.  The contest for me revolves around where Slick Salsa fancies going from her unfamiliar draw in 1 and if she can break at all from a rails draw.  She could easily miss it which means Lowgate Belatrix is underestimated in the market to turn handy on the rails at least alongside Mustang Golden, who is a colleague of mine that is hard to weigh up.   Barnside Chloe is a risky proposition to have faith in with her own ideas that the aim of her job is to be leader of the pack and Worsboro Zebo is hardly one to have your kennel mortgage on.  In a race probably best watched whilst licking a tub of ice cream, Belatrix is running well enough in recent defeats to pick up a hard-earned victory.

Selection: T2 – Lowgate Belatrix

7:43 – Marathon

Those lunatics that fancy running for 6 bends too far have a warm-favourite here in Slick Strauss but as should be the case, I’m not sure he gets home over this ridiculous trip.  His short-price factors in that he could be soon clear of this field but the confirmed stayer in this line-up is too big after a decent trial over the standard assignment: Atlantis Jacob.  Over his career, it would probably have been better for my doggie biscuit bank balance to just buy the dog and let him sit with me on the sofa than the amount of times I have backed him in defeat, but this is a golden opportunity for Jacob to show that he is a genuine marathon performer: who are a rare species.  Bubbly Tempest makes her long-anticipated debut over an 8-bend trip here but her effort at Harlow over 769m once on the bunny hardly howled out that she wants even further (considerably tiring at the end). That coupled with her effort on first look at the Yorkshire track looking like a reenactment of me staggering out of the Hare and Hounds after midnight on a Friday night after a milk-and-water session means that she is easily avoided here.

Selection: T1 – Atlantis Jacob

7:59 – Bitches

I’m a huge fan of watching these bitches only races and a nice dulcet Yorkshire-twang to a bark gets my tail-wagging woof woof! Early Mist looks plenty vulnerable enough here with her completely fluffing the start in her trial and the stayer Acomb Ruby has shown a real liking to the track and can hopefully repeat her sectional of 5:11 and run her very useful 27:50 time to pick this up.  Copeland Betty is desperate for an early-lead and the rails so Ruby will have to be red alert at the start but she should be favourite in this race in my dog’s honest opinion and the market is gradually agreeing with yours truly!  Wildfire Lin has useful pace and her recent win at Romford in a quick time should definitely be respected but I can start a chorus of the Kaiser Chiefs “Roooooo Rooooooo Rooooo Roooooooooooby” on my sofa as this good thing bolts clear!

Selection: T2 – Acomb Ruby NAP

8:16 – Puppies

The young tykes have a go here in effectively the consolation to the main event and this is a cavalry charge to the bend if ever there was one!  Dower Forgold has the pace to clear these with one of his good breaks but it must be barked that Viking Bertie (ex-Ballymac Alydar) is a pup with dangerous early and is a big unit to clear!  Dinnington Champ argubaly doesn’t want the rails either so there’s plenty to ponder if considering Forgold here.  Nearly Famous showed eye-catching early at the Sheffield sales this year and was a natural wide-runner for me so Young Lord has a lot on his plate on the run-up! It’s hard to make a strong case for any of these but a tentative selection must be that Forgold can make the bend: eyes closed at the bend for me and no it’s not due to my 34th nap of the day!

Selection: T3 – Dower Forgold

8:33 – Stayers

Swift Hansel has relished the freedom given to him now stepped up in trip as he saunters clear but this is not a foregone conclusion in this line-up and Calzaghe Jan and Geelo Bullet easily have the tools to challenge him from the outset.  The preference is for the Bullet who (after completely fluffing the start which he can do) ran the Kinsley track very well last time out and with a level-break he has to be value at a big-price. If he misses the break again then so-be-it but that is more than factored into his odds and his run last time was crying out for him to be backed next time out with a good make-up: he’s got one here!

Selection: T4 – Geelo Bullet NB

8:51 – Sprint Final

Everyone’s favourite race has a hugely competitive final here as each dog looks capable of beating the others on any other day.  Some would cynically suggest that that is a description of any sprint contest but this looks very tough to call indeed!  With Young Blitz trying to chop the bend when he gets there and Daytime Flyer moving in as a lane 3 or 4 runner, a tentative selection is for the infuriatingly inconsistent trapper Walk The Talk.  He can’t be backed with any confidence at all as he must surely be taking a nap in the traps on occasions (save it for the sofa pal!) but he has to be the quickest of these off a level-break and can swoop round the outside should he decide that he wants to get involved today!  Steaks recommended to be at a minimum for me in this!

Selection: T6 – Walk The Talk

9:08 – Gymcrack Final

Cometwopass has done nothing wrong since landing on these shores but his splits and times suggest that he does not have as much in paw as the prices suggest and I’m siding with Ballymac Healy drawn on his inner.  Healy ran into the inspired darling of Hall Green, Sylvias Chloe, in the semi-final who is a bitch that is simply lethal out of the red box (she would prefer trap 0 if she could choose it!) and Healy lost nothing trying to challenge her at the bends when she was railing maginificently as she does.  He flew out of the red box in the first round and that just might be exactly where he loves to be; therefore if he can hold his position he can drive the bend and come out down the back in front.  The Other Billy is a type to ignore at your peril but he will have to improve even further on his semi-final effort in order to clear the two inside him.  Whoever makes the bend out of the inside 3 wins this for me (as is often the case at Kinsley) and that can be Ballymac Healy now drawn favourably.

Selection: T1 – Ballymac Healy

Here are the recommendations:

7:11 – Stay Loose – 1 doggie treat @ 11/4

7:43 – Atlantis Jacob – 1 piece of bread at 7/2

7:59 – Acomb Ruby – 2 breasts of chicken @ 5/1

8:33 – Geelo Bullet – 2 chewstix @ 6/1

So there are my thoughts on the proceedings! As ever, if you have any comments please don’t hesitate to tweet me and I’ll bark back at you like there’s a squirrel teasing me up a tree!  As we build towards the Derby, let’s hope we can start to win some doggie treats to invest on our pawtfolio for the main event of the year!

Enjoy the racing,

Jimmy

As we approach the much-anticipated inaugural Derby at Towcester, the Sky cameras descend upon Hove tonight for a tournament that has always been blessed with quality staying hounds.  Tonight’s Regency final is no exception as the human champion Mark Wallis unleashes the two favourites with his consistent front-runner Rubys Rascal being challenged by his potential new superstar staying bitch Aayamza Breeze.  Elsewhere, I’ve pawed over the card and the action is competitive and varied which is nice to see at the fair galloping track on the South Coast.  As ever, I have found the value for the Lolly Faithful:

7:11 – Sprint

Everyone’s favourite race starts the proceedings and the draw can be so crucial over the optimum distance with it looking like it could be messy at the first bend.  Trapstyle Jet has yet to discover his National Sprint form from last year but is respected and with him inside Jumeirah Maximus and Ela Ela Genie, who are both all too prone to missing the break, these three could easily pace up together and cause themselves bother at the first bend.  Young Blitz would be interesting at a price if he had had a look at the traps but nonetheless he will be edging in to the rail along with Genie which gives the local Swift Watson a massive chance on home soil.  He will have to out-trap the unexposed well-bred Only One Leemac (a full-brother to Westway Gaga) but he is ever-so-consistent at these Hove boxes and with trouble envisaged on the inside, the selection could easily be left clear.

Selection: T5 – Swift Watson

7:26 – 475m

This quirky trip with the boxes close to the bend means that the victor is often a nice trapping sort.  Whilst Forest Con would surely have too much for these with a standard run-up to the bend, he and his highly-talented siblings have been beaten by tardy exits and that is a mistake you can ill-afford over this course and distance.  Therefore, he is worth taking on with the frustrating Let Me Tell You who has yet to find his optimum trip having needed oxygen over a stiff 4 bends when he has seemingly put the race to his doggie bed.  Angie Kibble’s Hall Green raider is a natural trapper though and is too big at 14/1 to ping on the rail ahead of the slow-away Kentish Duke and the admirable Dusko Popov to make-all.  The Monmore Puppy Derby victor Con might be simply too good for him, but at the prices I’m willing to find out!

Selection: T1 – Let Me Tell You

7:43 – Hurdles

A discipline that can be perfected by chasing pheasants over fences through farmers’ fields (much to the amusement/annoyance of humans), sees Sober Call looking to rebuild his reputation following his shock defeat in the Springbok final.  That effort showed that he is not infallible and with Dranoel inside him who will be searching for the middle ground there is every chance that he can come unstuck again.  Ballymac Manix has his own ideas about his work and whilst the trip is probably his optimum it is hard to recommend him with confidence and if he puts in a paw performance, the pinging veteran Kakantu could easily get on the bunny from his favoured box at a big price.  He seems to have always been underrated over the sticks and is far more useful than dismissive quotes of 10/1 suggest for a colleague of mine who always gives his all.

Selection: T6 – Kakantu

7:59 – Standard

Barking about the Derby will be commonplace over the next 2 months and in this contest there is one wide runner who could defy the perceived rails bias at Towcester in Brinkleys King.  The powerful galloping sort has proved he can overhaul decent bunny dogs at the new home of the Derby in Danzey Exception and Droopys Who (two hounds who need no invitation when presented with a lead on the bunny) and he should have too much for this field at a track perfect for his running style.  Odds-on quotes are reflective of his class advantage here.

Selection: T6 – Brinkleys King

8:16 – Bitches

I love watching a good selection of bitches and with Airforce Duchess likely to be moving right out of the boxes, she can set the race up for Droopys Polly to assert down the back from Pollys Pim.  Droopys Argento blasted onto the scene earlier in her career but has since misplaced her trapping boots which is far from ideal when she will have to deal with the smart-trapping local Outlier Maybe on her inside who would like to be in trap 7 if she could!  Polly is a bitch blessed with pace and with a solo she will simply have too much pace for these in my dog’s honest opinion!

Selection: T2 – Droopys Polly NAP

8:33 – Stayers

A cracking supporting stayers race here and as drawn Karlow Turbo can lead the game bitch Trapper Kate and use his useful middle-pace to account for these.  Spa Road Piper is sadly somewhat of a magnet for trouble in his races and could easily hinder the unexposed Bubbly Tempest who will be looking for the rails.  Those two drawn the wrong way round may give Goldies Seb (ex-Slick Sebastian) a solo to work with but Turbo is progressing rapidly and he can leave the others with sand on their faces as he powers clear off a level break.

Selection: T2 – Karlow Turbo NB

8:51 – Standard

Barricane Tiger seems desperate for the rails in his racing (regardless of whether there is a colleague of his in his way or not!) and so there is no doubting he has his draw now.  He flatters to deceive somewhat though and it is hard to trust him to deliver when he is a short-price.  If he misfires then Droopys Acrobat could easily use his undoubted natural pace to full effect as he should have the legs of the hound without a trip, Huarache Scotty, and the tardy starting Bockos Bolasie to the bend.  Droopys Missouri has a decent draw to work from as the sole wide but the value has to be with Acrobat with any sort of level break.

Selection: T2 – Droopys Acrobat

9:08 – Regency Final

The market has this between the two Wallis dogs and if Rubys Rascal leads up there seems to be the overriding opinion that Aayamza Breeze could make amends for her semi-final defeat and pick him up.  The problem arises for Rascal and that theory in that Tyrap Dragi finally showed his ability when leading from an ideal draw in his semi-final and now his confidence is bolstered, there is every chance of him producing a split that will lead Rubys Rascal for the first few bends.  It then becomes a question of whether Aayamza Breeze can secure a clear passage through her chase and from trap 5 that is hardly guaranteed so her rapid times might be misleading.  The draw leads Dragi to slip clear here and is definitely value at 10/1 to cling on.

Here are the recommendations:

7:26 – Let Me Tell You – 1 doggie treat @ 14/1

7:43 – Kakantu – 1 piece of bread @ 10/1

8:16 – Droopys Polly – 2 breasts of chicken @ 13/8

8:33 – Karlow Turbo – 1 dog bone @ 6/4

9:08 – Tyrap Dragi – 1 chewstick @ 10/1

So there are my thoughts on the proceedings! As ever, if you have any comments tweet me and I promise to bark right back at you!  On a night where the Lolly Faithful will be relying on a few upsets, let’s hopy Polly can run a cracker which will make us a pretty profit!

Enjoy the racing,

Jimmy