FIFI ADDS SPICE TO CRAYFORD
HAPPY NEW YEAR greyhound fans – and eyes down for some cracking action from Crayford and Sheffield tonight as the RPGTV cameras roll in. Catch yours truly on Sky Channel 431 or Freesat 250, plus bookmaker partner websites from 6pm.
Starting at Crayford, where the programme at the Kent venue is spiced by their first open races of the year, Seamus Cahill’s CAISLEAN FIFI (8.51) is interesting on his first start after finishing second in the Irish Grand National.
Nick Savva’s DROOPYS ESSIE (9.09) ran a stormer behind Shotgun Bullet when last here and might take some holding over 714m, while a better exit from the Dean Childstrained DROOPYS EDGE
(9.27) could see her reverse form with Snowdon Archie over
540m. At Sheffield, LIGHTFOOT JOEL (8.08) might prove the pick of the 16-race fare at the Owlerton Stadium. Sean Davy’s pup almost stepped up successfully from two bends to four last week, only to be nabbed late. Improvement is likely and he can make all.
Monmore continues its Ladbrokes Winter Festival with a decent programme where the best bets could be John Mullins’s pair, the in-form SWIFT TARQUIN (7.38) and up-in-trip CARN BREA
(8.11), while a slick exit paves the way for Kev Hutton’s FOREST MIKE (8.57) to bounce back.
Central Park kick-starts its open-race programme on RPGTV tomorrow with no fewer than eight of those scheduled. Liz McNair’s QUEEN ANNA
(7.18) looks a shoo-in in the sprint, while the countdown to the Springbok continues with a trial stakes. Go with better-drawn DROOPYS DENNY (9.01) for Ricky Holloway.
DERBY champion Dorotas Wildcat, four-time Category One winner King Turbo and All England Cup champion Droopys Verve are the trio of top-class greyhounds who will compete for Standard Distance Greyhound of the Year at the GBGB Awards.
The nominations were announced this week following a vote by members of the Greyhound Writers’ Association across a host of categories – so it’s well done to Hazel Kemp’s Slippy Maggie whose name appears in three lists.
The versatile six- and eight-bend winner is nominated in not just the marathon category, but also Newcomer of the Year and Bitch of the Year, while King Turbo (British Bred) and Calzaghe Flash (Sprinter, Newcomer) both received two nominations.
The winners will be announced on a gala night in London on Sunday, January
27. Tickets are selling well and further details, including sponsorship opportunities, can be obtained via the GBGB’s website www.gbgb.org. uk.
®ÊTHE first major competition of 2019 began with heats of the Coral Coronation Cup at Romford last night, with the final a week on Friday.
NEXT week should see confirmation of the dates for the 2019 Greyhound Derby. The first to be staged at Nottingham, the
£100,000-to-the-winner Classic is jointly sponsored by Arc, Local Parking Security and Star Sports Bookmakers.