Sky Dogs

A class field has been assembled for William Hill's 'Classic', the centrepiece of their Festival of Racing at Sunderland.

Scottish Derby winner Tyrur Kieran is the favourite for outright honours and if back to his best Paul Hennessey's Irish Raider should go well. He's goes in the second heat tonight and has a cracking draw in trap 1 inside of middle seed Barnfield Mike. The admirable Toosey Blue will provide stiff opposition and he is tempting at the 14/1 put up by Bet365 and Stan James. Throw in Plough Lane and you have a tough looking heat though and I'll look elsewhere for some value.

Charlie Lister's dogs always merit respect and Irish Puppy Derby runner up and Derby finalist Kryptonite is taken to make another big final. Generally available at 8/1 he's decent value and can get his campaign off to a winning start in heat four at the expense of Kilkenny Lonjack.

Another dog worth a little each way interest is Graham Hutt's Barnfield Weeman. The main reason for backing this son of Australian sire Token Prince is the price. Ladbrokes have him at 16/1 while VC Bet and Paddy Power go 100/1. In truth the correct price is probably somewhere between the two but he looks capable of qualifying from the first heat and is worth a small bet.

Bets - 8 points win Kryptonite (8/1 generally available), 1 point each way Barnfield Weeman (100/1 VC Bet, Paddy Power)

William Hill have been rewarded for their big money sponsorship of the Festival of Racing at Sunderland with an excellent field for the 'Classic' which begins with six first round heats on Saturday night.

The likes of Tyrur Kieran, Toosey Blue, Ninja Jamie, Kilkenny Lonjack and Kryptonite all go to the boxes for what looks a cracking nights racing.

The full first round draw is as below -

20.20 450M WILLIAM HILL CLASSIC HEAT 1

1 SEANIS LAD (M A WALLIS, WSTOW)
2 MANCINI (E SOPPITT, UNATT)
3 BARNFIELD WEEMAN (G J HUTT, UNATT)
4 SWIFT JAMES (M) (J G MULLINS, YRMTH)
5 BOWER KEANE (W) (K A MACARI, SLAND)
6 DROOPYS WELLS (W) (E MCNAIR, UNATT)

20.36 450M WILLIAM HILL CLASSIC HEAT 2

1 TYRUR KIERAN (P HENNESSY, IRE)
2 BARNFIELD MIKE (M) (G J HUTT, UNATT)
3 PLOUGH LANE (M) (J BATESON, UNATT)
4 DEANRIDGE CASPER (M) (P W YOUNG, ROMFD)
5 LETHAL FREDDIE (W) (S A CAHILL, WSTOW)
6 TOOSEY BLUE (W) (J G MULLINS, YRMTH)

20.52 450M WILLIAM HILL CLASSIC HEAT 3

1 BLINDIN BELL (D MULLINS, ROMFD)
2 LENSON EXPRESS (A M P COLLETT, STGBRN)
3 MILLDEAN BUSTER (M) (S A CAHILL, WSTOW)
4 FEAR HARIBO (M) (C R LISTER, UNATT)
5 STORMY SCHOLES (M) (G J HUTT, UNATT)
6 WESTMEAD LORD (W) (N SAVVA, HNLOW)

21.56 450M WILLIAM HILL CLASSIC HEAT 4

1 LENSON EARL (A M P COLLETT, STGBRN)
2 KRYPTONITE (C R LISTER, UNATT)
3 ROUGH GERRARD (M) (R GREY, PELAW)
4 BARNFIELD WOODY (M) (G J HUTT, UNATT)
5 COOLAVANNY SMOKE (M) (P B PHILPOTT, UNATT)
6 KILKENNY LONJACK (W) (S A CAHILL, WSTOW)

22.13 450M WILLIAM HILL CLASSIC HEAT 5

1 DROOPYS MARK (J M WALTON, BVUE)
2 NINJA JAMIE (C R LISTER, UNATT)
3 DROOPYS SHEEHY (E T PARKER, SHEFF)
4 CARLSBERG FLASH (M) (E MCNAIR, UNATT)
5 HILLCROSS ZEUS (M) (S MASON, HULL)
6 DROOPYS CARVALHO (W) (J G MULLINS, YRMTH)

22.30 450M WILLIAM HILL CLASSIC HEAT 6

1 ME BUDDY (M J DARTNALL, READG)
2 SEANIS STRIKE (M A WALLIS, WSTOW)
3 LIVELY ARTHUR (E MCNAIR, UNATT)
4 NOELLES DEANO (J A TEAL, SLAND)
5 APACHE DAWN (R H KERR, UNATT)
6 MEENALA CRUISER (W) (J BATESON, UNATT)

The latest betting is available here.

The Cock O' The North continues at what looks like being a very soggy Belle Vue Tonight.

The ante-post selection Halcrow Prince won his heat and goes in the second qualifier where he's up against the outright favourite for the event, Ballymac Weeshie.

Full Draw -

21.27 670M WAFCOL COCK O THE NORTH 1ST SEMI-FINAL

1 VATICAN CRIEFF
2 NOIRS BRID
3 NOIRS NOREEN
4 SHEEPWALK NANNY
5 WESTMEAD FRISKY
6 BREAD HEAD (W)

21.43 670M WAFCOL COCK O THE NORTH 2ND SEMI-FINAL

1 HALCROW PRINCE
2 BALLYMAC WEESHIE
3 THORNFIELD TOBY
4 BLONDE MARCO (M)
5 VATICAN FYNE (M)
6 COMEBACK (W)

The latest betting is available here.

The TV Trophy is the main event on Sky tonight with odds on favourite Flying Winner difficult to oppose. The ante-post selection, Swift Jade, goes from trap three.

I like to see dogs run twice over course and distance in the build up to a final to be able to produce my speed figures and tissue so I won't be doing a full preview on this one.

As I said Flying Winner looks difficult to oppose but I have to agree with Johnny Moyles who identifies Midway Skipper as a value alternative. Johnny, as usual, has an excellent preview of the card on his blog which you can view here.

Midway Skipper can be supported either each way in the outright market, in the 'without the fav' market or at a value 6/5 with Coral in a match bet against Swift Ninja.

A couple of other dogs who look overpriced on the card are Townbrow Melody (9/2 with Bet365, VC Bet) who goes in the 20:50 and Bubbly Rambo (7/2 Totesport, Coral) in the 21:10. If you fancy either of those I'd take the early prices as I can't see the SP being any bigger.

Cheers

The TV Trophy reaches a conclusion on Tuesday evening with all the action coming live from Doncaster on Sky Sports 3.

The appropriately named Flying Winner is the odds on jolly after doing the clock in the heats and she will be very hard to beat. The ante-post selection, Swift Jade, is through to the final and I'm hopeful she'll make a place.

Final Draw -

21.45 868M THE WILLIAMHILL.CO.UK TELEVISION TROPHY - FINAL

1 FLYING WINNER
2 MIDWAY SKIPPER
3 SWIFT JADE
4 BUBBLY KATE
5 SWIFT BLACKFOOT
6 SWIFT NINJA (W)

The latest betting is available here.

There's a very interesting market for the Cock O' The North which gets underway at my local track Belle Vue tonight. Sam Poots' Ballymac Weeshie is the short price jolly and you can get 6/1 bar him which throws up plenty of each way opportunities.

Larkhill Bird, who was arguably unlucky not to take last years renewal, is very tempting at 10/1 with Bet365 and Paddy Power. She is however approaching her fifth birthday and also lacks a recent run, these two factors have made me pass on her this time round.

Vatican Crieff, formerly Corporate Signal, has some very smart Irish form. Now in the care of Pat Rosney, who is no stranger to winners at 'the zoo', he should go well but the best price of 6/1 is probably about right.

Of those at longer prices, Tom Fruit St Leger winner Barnfield Brooke and Julie Bateson's Halcrow Prince make most appeal. The latter looks especially good for trading purposes. Available at 25/1 with Coral he looks set to win his heat tonight which could set up opportunities to lay-off on Betfair and he's the one who will be carrying my cash.

The Cock O' The North starts at Belle Vue this evening with four first round heats. Ballymac Weeshie is a best priced 7/4 in the outright market and while he has an excellent chance I'm hoping to identify some each way value elsewhere.

First round draw -

20.25 670M WAFCOL COCK O THE NORTH - HEAT 1

1 NOIRS NOREEN (O D KUERES, BVUE)
2 VATICAN CRIEFF (P J ROSNEY, NOTTS)
3 UNIQUE PRINCE (L G TUFFIN, NOTTS)
4 LARKHILL BIRD (M WALSH, NEWC)
5 BLONDE MARCO (M) (G A HOWSON, UNATT)
6 CARBARNS TOM (W) (C R LISTER, UNATT)

20.40 670M WAFCOL COCK O THE NORTH - HEAT 2

1 THORNFIELD TOBY (J ANDREWS, BVUE)
2 SHEEPWALK NANNY (P PRIOR, DONC)
3 HALCROW PRINCE (J BATESON, UNATT)
4 BLONDE BANKER (M) (R A FIELDING, BVUE)
5 BALTREE ELLA (W) (J L MCCOMBE, BVUE)
6 ROSIES DIAMOND (W) (R HOUGH, SHEFF)

20.55 670M WAFCOL COCK O THE NORTH - HEAT 3

1 OWVANE BLUE BELL (N J SAUNDERS, BVUE)
2 NOIRS BRID (O D KUERES, BVUE)
3 DYSERT TAZMIN (J B MARSH, UNATT)
4 BARNFIELD BROOKE (P B PHILPOTT, UNATT)
5 VATICAN FYNE (M) (P J ROSNEY, NOTTS)
6 COMEBACK (W) (L G TUFFIN, NOTTS)

21.11 670M WAFCOL COCK O THE NORTH - HEAT 4

1 WESTMEAD FRISKY (P J ROSNEY, NOTTS)
2 BALLYMAC WEESHIE (S POOTS, UNATT)
3 BRIGHT SPICE (N J SAUNDERS, BVUE)
4 TRUTHFUL LAD (M) (T V HACKETT, NOTTS)
5 SWIFT DENN (W) (J ANDREWS, BVUE)
6 BREAD HEAD (W) (C HOPKINS, DONC)

The latest betting is available here.

Greyhound of the year 2007, Spiridon Louis has been pulled out of the TV Trophy and in doing so has kinda pulled the plug on my ante-post preview.

Not that I was going to tip up Louis but the resulting shake up in the betting means the bet that I have already had no longer looks great value at the revised odds.

Flying Winner is the odds on favourite for the event and deservedly so but at the price I couldn't back her. The dog I have backed is Swift Jade who has been in great form lately and was staying on well behind Flying Winner in the Coral Regency. Over this extended trip she looks the value ... or rather she did at the 5/1 I took yesterday (each way). Thats all gone now unfortunately and I'm not sure I'd play at the now top priced 4/1. Another 'Swift' of interest is Michael Harris' Ninja who is available at 10/1 with Totesport which looks fair each way value. I'm sticking with Jade though and hope I've picked the right one.

Cheers

The TV trophy, an eight bend event staged at a different track each year, gets underway at Doncaster on Tuesday night. The final goes out live on Sky on the 24th of June.

The draw for the three first round heats is as below -

TUESDAY JUNE 17
DONCASTER

20.53 868M THE WILLIAMHILL.CO.UK TELEVISION TROPHY - HEAT 1

1 DANBURY DODGER (J W REYNOLDS, ROMFD)
2 MIDWAY SKIPPER (H CHALKLEY, HNLOW)
3 FLYING WINNER (C T LUND, HULL)
4 SEAMIES GAMBLER (M) (P W YOUNG, ROMFD)
5 ARDAGH CHARM (M) (D M CURTIN, READG)
6 HOME FLASH (W) (J BATESON, UNATT)

21.10 868M THE WILLIAMHILL.CO.UK TELEVISION TROPHY - HEAT 2

1 SWIFT BLACKFOOT (C R LISTER, UNATT)
2 HEAD ITON PADDY (S RACE, UNATT)
3 SWIFT JADE (D D PORTER, SWNDN)
4 SPIRIDON LOUIS (L D SAMS, UNATT)
5 JANGOS SNOWDROP (M) (J RUDGEWICK, MLDHL)
6 JULIES NEWBIE (W) (G F SALLIS, STGBRN)

21.27 868M THE WILLIAMHILL.CO.UK TELEVISION TROPHY - HEAT 3

1 VIERIS SURPRISE (D CHILDS, UNATT)
2 BUBBLY KATE (P W YOUNG, ROMFD)
3 VATICAN IONA (M) (P J ROSNEY, NOTTS)
4 ARDAGH VIBES (W) (D J ATKINS, HNLOW)
5 HEAD ITON JORDAN (W) (S RACE, UNATT)
6 SWIFT NINJA (W) (M HARRIS, MONMR)

The latest betting is available here.

The Ladbrokes Summer Festival reaches its conclusion on Friday with the Stayers Classic the main event. All the action will be shown in the betting shops on the BAGS.

Final Draw -

17.17 480M LADBROKES SUMMER STAYERS CLASSIC 630M - FINAL

1 SELECTA MOON
2 ELDERBERRY AZEL
3 POND GALLILEO
4 GLITTERING ARIES
5 DROOPYS JOHN (M)
6 COOLAVANNY PIUS (W)

The latest betting is available here.

Apologies to all if the blog updates are a little infrequent over the next week or so but due to a break in at home my spare time is being taken up to a certain degree dealing with the aftermath. Normal service (or even tipping some winners!) will resume as soon as possible.

In the meantime, be lucky.

Cheers

Ken

The Summer Stayers Classic continues at Monmore on Monday with the semi two semi-finals. There's also the heats of the dogs and bitches standard events plus qualifiers for the Summer Festival sprint. All the action is on the BAGS.

Of the ante-post selections, Genesis Dream unfortunately came into season so had to be withdrawn. Swift Pawnee won his heat and goes in the first semi final.

Draw -

17.07 630M LADBROKES SUMMER STAYERS CLASSIC 630M

1 SWIFT PAWNEE
2 SELECTA MOON
3 GLITTERING ARIES
4 HEAD ITON NICK
5 POND GALLILEO
6 TWO THUMBS

17.27 630M LADBROKES SUMMER STAYERS CLASSIC 630M

1 KING OF SPEED
2 JANS TOP LAD
3 ELDERBERRY AZEL
4 FEAR ROBBEN
5 DROOPYS JOHN (M)
6 COOLAVANNY PIUS (W)

The latest betting is available here.

The final of the Brighton Belle is the main event on a good looking card at Hove tonight.

Speed Figs

T6 - Murlens Dubh 100
T2 - Hackney Carriage 88
T5 - Ballymac Rita 75+
T4 - Droopys Majella 73+
T3 - Farloe Mirror 66
T1 - Shes Chicken 63

Murlens Dubh is clear on the figures and from a perfect draw in the stripes looks sure to play a major part. Hackney Carriage is likely to be up there on the inside with fast starting Shes Chicken and can give the top rated most to do.

Sky Dogs Tissue

Converting the speed figures to odds, with a little tinkering for the effects of the draw, I've come up with the prices below -

6/5 Murlens Dubh, 7/2 Hackney Carriage, 10/1 Ballymac Rita, Droopys Majella, 14/1 Farloe Mirror, Shes Chicken

Murlens Dubh is available at 11/8 with Coral which is decent value and is highly likely to beat the SP. Hackney Carriage is a viable each way alternative at the 9/2 chalked up by Blue Square. Betfair are also trading on the race so there may be opportunities there.

I'll be backing Murlens Dubh with Coral and may look to trade Hackney Carriage in and out on Betfair.

The Cesarewitch continues tomorrow night at Oxford with two semi-finals.

Sherries Boy, the ante-post selection, won his heat and goes in the second semi but the draw has not been kind putting him in with the likes of Directors Chair, Primitive Way and Lenson Joker. Its a big ask but hopefully he'll go well.

The full draw is as below -

TUESDAY JUNE 3
OXFORD

20.20 645M WILLIAM HILL CESAREWITCH 1ST SEMI-FINAL

1 SHELBOURNE RICH
2 MINTED EURO
3 COOLANGA FLYER
4 VATICAN FYNE (M)
5 SWIFT STIRLING (W)
6 MANNERS SLANEY (W)

21.35 645M WILLIAM HILL CESAREWITCH 2ND SEMI-FINAL

1 SHERRIES BOY
2 SWIFT DOUGAL
3 SWIFT MAYBOLE
4 PRIMITIVE WAY
5 DIRECTORS CHAIR
6 LENSON JOKER (M)

The latest betting is available here.

The Summer Stayers Classic gets underway tomorrow with 24 dogs contesting four heats. It looks a good event but there appear to be few dogs with a realistic chance of winning. With the Cesarewitch at Oxford also on the go at the moment the field is probably not as strong as it could be but if the likes of Pond Gallileo, Genesis Dream, Two Nicks and Iceman Ross made it through to the decider it would certainly be a race to look forward to.

I've managed to narrow my bets down to a couple of dogs who I think are decent value. First up is Mark Wallis' Genesis Dream. This daughter of Top Honco was in tremendous form earlier in the year when taking the Spring Festival event over course and distance. She goes in a weak looking heat 1 and looks almost certain to progress. William Hill are out of line going 7/1 and I'll have 8 points each way with them.

As a back up to the main selection I'm also going to support local hound Swift Pawnee. He's plenty of experience round Monmore and recently took a six bend Open here. As short as 10/1 with Ladbrokes he can be backed at double those odds with Totesport, VC Bet and Stan James and at that price I'll have a couple of points each way.

One other dog to catch my eye was Lance Burford's classy Iceman Ross. I was extremely tempted by the 10/1 put up by Bet365 and Hills but he's in a tough heat with Glittering Aries and Fear Robben and is not proven over the trip so I've left him out. Time will tell if its the right decision.

Bets - 8 points each way Genesis Dream at 7/1 (William Hill), 2 points each way Swift Pawnee at 20/1 (Totesport, VC Bet, Stan James)

The Summer Stayers Classic, a six bend competition sponsored by Ladbrokes and shown in betting shops on the BAGS, gets underway at Monmore tomorrow. Here's the draw -

MONDAY JUNE 2
MONMORE

14.47 630M LADBROKES SUMMER STAYERS CLASSIC 630 - HEAT 1

1 GENESIS DREAM (M A WALLIS, WSTOW)
2 BOURNE BREEZY (C ALLSOPP, MONMR)
3 UNREALISTIC (K MEAKIN, MONMR)
4 TWO THUMBS (J A FINCH, UNATT)
5 ELDERBERRY AZEL (M) (P I COWDRILL, MONMR)
6 DROOPYS JOHN (M) (C ALLSOPP, MONMR)

15.28 630M LADBROKES SUMMER STAYERS CLASSIC 630 - HEAT 2

1 GLITTERING ARIES (K BILLINGHAM, MONMR)
2 FEAR ROBBEN (B M BOLTON, HNLOW)
3 KING OF SPEED (E T PARKER, SHEFF)
4 ELDERBERRY NOIR (W) (P I COWDRILL, MONMR)
5 ICEMAN ROSS (W) (L BURFORD, COVEN)
6 BALLINTUBER VER (W) (A STONE, PBARR)

16.08 630M LADBROKES SUMMER STAYERS CLASSIC 630 - HEAT 3

1 SWIFT PAWNEE (M HARRIS, MONMR)
2 JANS TOP LAD (E T PARKER, SHEFF)
3 TWO NICKS (L G TUFFIN, NOTTS)
4 SELECTA MOON (C ALLSOPP, MONMR)
5 ARDCRONEY VIERA (C ALLSOPP, MONMR)
6 ELDERBERRY KHAN (W) (P I COWDRILL, MONMR)

16.47 630M LADBROKES SUMMER STAYERS CLASSIC 630 - HEAT 4

1 DROOPYS THOMAS (K J PRINCE, MONMR)
2 POND GALLILEO (H F WILLIAMS, NEWC)
3 HEAD ITON NICK (C ALLSOPP, MONMR)
4 ROCKBURST MASON (M A WALLIS, WSTOW)
5 ENDLESS CLICHE (M) (P A CURTIN, OXFRD)
6 COOLAVANNY PIUS (W) (E T PARKER, SHEFF)

The latest betting is available here.