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