A good card has been assembled for the Sky cameras this evening at Nottingham and there are some fascinating contests. Here are my thoughts for down the card:

19:40 – 500m Flat

The racing begins with a dog who was perhaps slightly unfortunate not to be featuring in the big race this evening in Boher Paddy. Paddy has a decent draw and should account for his rivals if he can find his beloved rails, which he failed to do in the Derby Quarter Finals from a horrible draw in the black box. Mags Gamble is no slouch but was disappointing in the Derby and his reappearance at Sunderland; the fact his owners were attempting to sell him before the Derby is perhaps a worrying testament to the dog as well. If Paddy gets to the rails it should be all over bar the shouting.

20:00 – 680m Flat

An heroic effort from Swabys Princess last week in the Grand Prix has seen her installed for favourite in this race but her price may be too cramped now at 6/4. It is therefore worth siding with the classy Farley Zach to get on the bunny and prove difficult to reel in. Conkon is ignored at your peril around this C&D but has struggled of late.

20:15 – 480m Flat

This looks a straight race between Lister’s Farloe Wolverine and the ex-Irish Paradise Cruz and should offer plenty of indications as to the talents of both. The preference is to side with Cruz who broke the clock around the new track of Coventry and looks a value call to lead up tonight.

20:35 – 305m Flat

What a cracking sprint this is – makes me proud to have been a sprinter back in the day! The unexposed, unknown entity of unbeaten ex-Irish Mill Bullseye, the talented sprinting bitch Fernhill Jess, the likeable Boyneside Banty and the track hero Dynamo Joe is a great line-up. Preference is for Joe as he has the sensational record of 12 from 16 over C&D and Bullseye will have to be something seriously special to beat him round here.

20:50 – 500m Flat

The bitches take to the stage here and the ever impressive Bansha Mo looks the call although her early battle with Mutual Decision will be fascinating. Mo has shown signs of being something a bit special and she can account for Decision tonight who seems to prefer it round Monmore. In saying that, Farlow Holly may run well at good odds and Silverview Pinky will have her fans from a great draw and her litter-sister’s achievements.

21:10 – 730m Flat

Tynwald Tom has been backed like he can’t lose this race but there are types lining up here that you dismiss at your peril. Yes, it is a short trip for the likes of Aero Gaga and Bubbly Capel but it is a huge leap in class for Tom this evening and he may not have it all his own way. The call is to go for Capoley Ash who has finally settled at Sallis’ kennels with 5 wins from 6 (losing only in the Regency final) and his efforts around Hove show that he still has enough early to be competitive over this trip.

21:25 – 480m Flat

It is hard to oppose 2013 Derby favourite Ballymac Eske here but he is at cramped odds so a bet is probably not worth it. He has proven he is beatable, a memorable clash with Farloe Tango as one example, and there are capable sorts that can cause Eske more problems than he is normally used to like Jordans Chris and Fridays Daryl.

21:45 – 500m Flat

A great contest that has many connotations but amongst greyhound enthusiasts and bloggers alike all of the talk has been about one dog and he is the standout price: Sawpit Sensation. He is surely still to big at 7/1 with his form of not being outside the top 2 in his last 16 races, 6 from 7 round this C&D and his awesome effort to pick up Taylors Cruise at Hove last month. Will he weave his way through these tonight? If there is any trouble in front, he will certainly give it his best and what a race that would turn into.

So there are a dog’s thoughts on the proceedings tonight, please don’t hesitate to tweet me or comment if you agree/disagree with my assessment – my responses are normally fast but please remember I am typing with paws.

Enjoy the racing,

Jimmy

With the fantastic performance of You Mind Me to land the Oxford Pall Mall over 450m, it strikes me that this is not an isolated incident where a genuine sprinter is underrated over 4 bends.  Other top class sprinters that I used to oppose such as Lil Risky, Swabys Tony and even Fifis Rocket before them have shown they can win at the highest level over the standard distance and I feel it is no coincidence that they do so.

I coin the phrase “Staying Sprinter” to describe these greyhounds as it is all too often the case when a fast-out dog is stepped down in trip, they are then considered incapable of staying the full four bends.  With the dearth of prize-money in sprinting opens, owners and trainers alike are having to enter their genuine sprinters into four-bend affairs to pay the bills but this is often not in vain.  Indeed, it paid off for You Mind Me (one of the most feared two-bend performers in the country) in the Pall Mall and whilst some skeptics may argue that it is a short four-bends at Oxford, his winning performances in the First and Second Rounds of the English Derby dispel the myth that he cannot stay the normal 480m trip.  He is not alone in this regard, however, with Fifis Rocket (a supreme sprinter of yesteryear) utilising his blistering early-speed to reach the Semi-Finals of the Derby just a year ago: this is the rise of the staying sprinter.

Yet these performances, and there are many more examples, should not be considered flukes and rather that they should be capitalised upon when assessing antepost markets and race make-ups with sprinters included.  The fact of the matter is that greyhounds are schooled over four-bends as puppies and thus the very top-class sprinters are more than likely to be able to stay the standard distance to a sufficient level.  It was a surprise to many how well You Mind Me and Fifis Rocket ran in their respective Derbies, but this shock could have been avoided if taking the whole of the greyhound’s career into context, particularly in Fifis Rocket’s case.  Rocket (when known as King Lee) was antepost favourite for the 2010 English Derby for a long period prior to the tournament, as he had shown the capability of just-about staying the 480m distance.  He failed to fulfil this potential that year, but this should not have meant that he should be completely disregarded over four-bends the subsequent year when he came ever-so-close to making the final: people write-off sprinters’ staying capabilities all too frequently.

So how can we use this revelation to benefit our analysis of races involving sprinters?  Considering these trends, it should have come as no surprise when Lil Risky (an all-too-familiar rival of my own) won his heat of the Classic at Sunderland over 450m when stepping back up in trip, but I feel he is still being neglected in the antepost markets for the tournament.  At a standout 8/1 he seems to represent far much better value than the 4/1 of market leader Droopys Loner.  Loner, a scintillating early-paced bitch, has set the greyhound world alight with her stunning front-running performances but yet when she met a genuine sprinter (the aforementioned You Mind Me) in the Pall Mall, he led her and then her challenge for the competition was over.  While one could argue that she uncharacteristically missed the break, who is to say that Lil Risky will not lead her if they meet later in the tournament?  If that eventuality happens, Loner’s ability to come from behind is unfortunately questionable and so she may be faced with another agonising loss in a major tournament.

So is greyhound racing that easy? When a sprinter steps up in trip you back them because they are in all probability likely to lead.  Of course not.  Yet the many connotations involved in a race mean that sprinters are often underrated due to the myth that they cannot stay the distance.  I agree that some sprinters genuinely do not stay, but finding a sprinter that just-about does could be very lucrative when considering four-bend tournaments in the future: the game is a lot easier when you’re on the bunny in the front, trust me!

Jimmy

So this is my first dog blog and so what should I discuss? I have started this blog as I feel it is a great time to be involved in greyhound racing and although the sport has its problems, the overall feel across the greyhound world is a positive one with many good ideas coming into the game.

But why me, a dog, to discuss these matters I hear you ask? Well, for a start my record speaks for itself and there is no substitute in greyhound observations and analysis than to actually understand and appreciate the dog’s characters and attributes to assess their racing prospects. Who is better equipped to understand what it takes to be a winner than me, Jimmy, arguably the greatest sprinter of modern times (if I do say so myself!)

In my dog blogs I will discuss anything from general trends within the industry to individual dogs that have caught my eye to offer owners, enthusiasts and punters alike a different perspective of my four-legged friends. I will try to keep the posts light-hearted with a few “rough” jokes (say that phrase aloud to get your first one!) and also offer an in-depth, analytical insight into greyhounds but you will have to bear in mind, I am only a dog.

With such an exciting era ahead of us with potential superstars Farloe Tango, Ballymac Eske and Alien Planet along with Bubbly Phoenix, Farloe Ironman and the blistering early-pace of Eden Star (to look forward to on his return) the standard of UK racing is going to be at its highest for many a year. Indeed, I think even I would have struggled to live with Eden Star’s brutish pace over the first two bends and hopefully his injury has sufficiently recovered to produce the kind of run he did in the first round of the English Derby.

Of course, there are many other exciting prospects and superstars that I have neglected to mention in the UK but I will be focussing mainly on these shores as I never actually ran in Ireland. It would be wrong of me not to mention dogs like Sparta Maestro, Droopys Cain and Razldazl George across the pond and definitely amiss of me not to mention Milldean Panther briefly here. The Shelbourne Park track record holder is sponsored by Boylesports which is a fantastic and novel concept that is hopefully continued with other greyhounds and bookmakers – I wish I had been sponsored!!

Anyway, enough of me rambling for now but I hope you enjoy my posts and if you love greyhounds, I hope you will love my dog blogs!

Jimmy