All the latest from Crayford Greyhound Track
Saturday night’s card will feature the latest final in the
Owners Bonus Series of races which are designed for graded
greyhounds.
There is a nice twist to this particular final in that while it
is for dogs currently racing in grade S4 over 540 metres, it also
has the "Guys & Dolls" element attached.
The two heats which were run last weekend featured six bitches
in one heat and six dogs in the other with the first three dogs in
each race going through to this weekend’s final.
These greyhounds would normally race for a winner’s prize money
of around £140 however the Owners Bonus races have added prize
money so the winner here will receive £500 which is well worth
chasing.
The other five runners get £100 each and the winning trainer
also receives £100. So who will prove to the best, the girls or the
boys?
The ladies will be represented by Springwood Erica (trap 1),
Torins Gem (3) and Venture Free (5). The lads are Buglys Sparky
(trap 2), Dower Vieri (4) and Good Poet (6).
We must look firstly at the heat winners’ times which were
34.85sec for Venture Free who won the bitches’ race and 34.60
recorded by Dower Vieri in the lads’ race.
On paper it would seem that there is little to choose between
them and think the final will be between these two.
In these two dogs we have completely different circumstances,
however, as to their records over the 540-metre distance.
Dower Vieri has been racing over this trip since last July
while, in contrast, Venture Free was having her first ever race as
she usually runs over 380 metres here.
Before running last week, she had a trial and recorded 34.60 so
her returned race time was no fluke.
Perhaps the deciding factor for me is that if you go back on
Dower Vieri’s form book to last August, you would find that he has
recorded a time as fast as 34.11.
While I am conscious that Venture Free may yet improve further,
I will give Dower Vieri my vote.
If you are unable to make it to the track on Saturday night, you
can catch all of the action on Sky Channel 212 or on Freesat
402.
27/02/13