GREYHOUND PREVIEW:In this weekend’s piece we focus on the Quarter Finals of the Blue Riband from Towcester on Sunday. We also look at Fridays evening action from Oxford and Romford. All three meetings are live on RPGTV.
Blue Riband Quarters Highlight Good Weekend of Action on RPGTV
On Sunday afternoon Towcester will host four Quarterfinals of the 2023 Blue Riband. The early season event has attracted a host of big names and we should be treated to four intriguing heats this weekend. The first of the quarters is due off at 14:12 where expensive ex Irish tracker Mr Chelm will run from box three. Mr Chelm has an incredible record around Towcester with eight runs coming in open race company, he has yet to finish out of the first three, he tied up quite badly on the run-in last week and was well behind the principles at the pick-up. For me he is not the same dog we seen when finishing his Irish career towards the autumn of last year around Shelbourne Park, but one suspects the ability still lingers within him. The safest bet is Deelish Frankie from trap two. He beat Mr Chelm around here on New Year’s Day and can usually be relied upon to give his all.
Romeo Top Cat and Coppice Fox will dominate the market in the second heat. Youngster Romeo Top Cat has impressed around here in recent weeks, with a level break you would expect him to lead up Master Ten Ten (T3) and Salacres Finesse (T1). Top Cat is consistent on the clock and you would anticipate he would clock somewhere around 29:30-29:40 if leading. Coppice Fox is the only runner in the line-up who could come near that sort of clock. A Derby semi-finalist last year he is incredibly fast when starting quickly, as he showed last week when making all in 29:30. For me however slight preference is for Romeo Top Cat to make all from trap two.
Hopes Paddington tops the Ante post list with a couple of firms and its easy to see why. The son of 2017 Irish Derby winner Good News was flawless last weekend and will be impossible to beat with a repeat performance. Taking it up off the second bend Hopes Paddington really turned on the afterburners from the third bend home and had over five lengths in hand on nearest rival Late Bolger who reopposes here again. His main danger may come from Signet Otis drawn in trap one. Otis has a couple of lengths to find on Paddington on last week’s run and must hold his position early if he is to give the selection any real headaches.
Lautaro and Fabulous Azzura clash in a cracking heat to round up the session. Lautaro has put in some stunning performances around Towcester over the past year or so and is clearly running as well as ever lately. His all the way win last weekend against a good field was a notable performance. Fabulous Azzura was a stunning winner at the Winter Racing Festival at Shelbourne Park a couple of weeks ago where she too beat a top class field. I was at Shelbourne Park that night and that run by Azzura was from the top drawer. I’ll side with her to get the better of the classy Lautaro in the final heat.
Friday Night Lights
Oxford and Romford will feature on RPGTV on Friday evening with plenty of Open Race action on show. The British Bred Puppy Cup gets underway at Oxford. Gooner should have no problems taking the first of the heats due off at 18:33, hopefully that’s the only sporting success Arsenal fans celebrate this weekend!
Romeo Atomic has plenty in hand on the clock in the 18:48 and should take heat two with ease. Another runner on the card who should win with plenty in hand is Space Jet in the 20:03. Jet is near impossible to beat over these extended marathon trips, she broke the track record around here last week and it would be no surprise to see her go even quicker this weekend. Take the three selections above in a short price treble.
Over at Romford they will have the usual Friday night open race action. Hove raider Watsons Avenue is an interesting runner in the 18:58. The son of Magical Bale has displayed fine pace in a couple of runs around Hove recently and would be hard to contain around here with one of his better starts. Droopys Chaser (19:18) has a habit of finding the trouble spots but is surely due a change of luck. He returns from a layoff here; his trial form has been impressive and this looks his easiest assignment for quite a while.
The 2022 Essex Vase first round heats will commence at 19:56. Havana Bale Out (19:56) Savana Ruinart (20:38) and Romeo Top Gun (20:54) look the best bets of the round one. We will focus more on this event in next week’s piece.
Weekend’s Best Bets:
Towcester Sunday 14:52
Romeo Top Cat: Two units win
Romford Friday 18:58
Watsons Avenue: One unit win
