All the latest from Crayford Greyhound Track
In our top grade races, the balance of power seems to have taken
a shift towards trainer Julie Luckhurst’s kennel, with her dogs
performing consistently well over 380 and 540 metres.
This was highlighted on Saturday night when she sent out winners
in open races over both trips and also won a top grade S1 race to
round off an excellent night.
Selkirk Souter is now arguably the best greyhound we have here
over 380m and her win in the Crayford Bookmakers Sprint Open was
her sixth consecutive success which included a notable victory in
the Tony Morris Memorial Rose Bowl in early December.
Since joining the Luckhurst kennel last May, she has run 17
races here, winning 11. That sort of record speaks for itself and
her connections have much to look forward to given that the dog
will not be three until May.
She will remain a major player here in this year’s big races
over the sprint distance.
I have mentioned Tarsna Inca before and she has not disappointed
her followers when running over 540m, which clearly suits her
better than the 380m trip.
Having started her career here almost a year ago in middle grade
A4, she has made rapid progress – reaching the top grade A1 within
three months – and has since won seven open- class races at
Crayford.
Given just how good she is, her starting prices always seem to
be reasonable to me and she is virtually uncatchable when leading
early on, as she proved yet again on Saturday when romping home at
odds of 5-2.
At graded level, Burgess Lad has been taking no prisoners lately
with a hat-trick of victories over 540m in top grade S1.
Interestingly, Luckhurst has not yet entered him into an open
race here but it cannot be long now before she will be tempted to
do so.
While Tarsna Inca won her open over the same distance in a time
of 34.21sec, Burgess Lad managed a 34.36 in his race which is his
fastest recorded time over 540m to date in his 16 races here.
The dog’s progress has not been hurried but we can expect him to
take his chances soon against open-class greyhounds and he should
figure well if he continues to make improvements.
In my last column before Christmas, I had indicated both Selkirk
Souter and Burgess Lad would run well and this was further
complemented by Pebbles Del, who won at odds of 7-2 before
Christmas.
The above Luckhurst dogs should give you a good start to the
year. Follow them with confidence.
The track’s top race of the year, the Ladbrokes Golden Jacket,
starts with the heats on Saturday, February 2.
This race has a winner’s prize of £15,000 and, as usual, will
attract the top dogs from around the country.
The semi-finals will be on February 9 and the final on February
16. Both will be staged on the Saturday morning card.
09/01/13