Sky Dogs

I was at Belle Vue on Thursday for the start of the Betfred Laurels. A cracking nights racing with good performances from Deanridge Fury and Farloe Reason.

The was a good crowd in attendance and no doubt a few had taken advantage of the promotion whereby by you get entry to the track and a fast food voucher for the princely sum of 1 pence. The promotion, run in conjunction with the BGRB, is availble at numerous tracks and is definately worth a look. More info and vouchers are available at www.1pmealdeal.com.

The East Anglian Derby goes out live on Sky Sports 3 tonight from Yarmouth. Big race time is as usual 9:45pm with coverage of the supporting card starting at 7:30pm. Praise has to go to Yarmouth and the sponsors Betfair for putting up an excellent £20000 first prize with decent money on offer for the minor honours too.

Speed Figs

T2 - Ninja Jamie 100
T6 - Droopys Carvalho 85
T3 - Movealong Blue 84
T1 - Legal Major 46+
T5 - Roswell Startrek 45
T4 - Cobra Striking 33

Ninja Jamie is clear on the figures and bids to become Charlie Lister's ninth East Anglian Derby winner. Next best are Droopys Carvalho and Movealong Blue who were only a short head apart when they met in the second round. The remainder are well behind according to my calculations but I am slightly concerned about the times from semi-final night which were markedly slower than what these dogs had previously achieved.

Skydogs Tissue

Using the speed figures as a basis and taking into account the trap draw and pace scenarios I have come up with the 'tissue' below -

6/5 Ninja Jamie, 9/2 Movealong Blue, 5/1 Droopys Carvalho, 11/1 Cobra Striking, 14/1 Roswell Startrek, 18/1 Legal Major

Ninja Jamie is the favourite with the bookies and rightly so. The 5/6 available is a little short but Betfair players can currently take slightly above even money which seems fair enough. Movealong Blue is very interesting. I make this locally trained blue dog a 9/2 shot but Ladbrokes go 12’s. Paul Philpott's hound is capable of a quick exit and may just make it over to the rails ahead of Ninja Jamie and Legal Major, if he does he's capable of a big run. Droopys Carvalho is closely matched with Movealong Blue and although he's well drawn he's likely to be behind early and will have to find his way through dogs to win. Ernie Gaskin is doubly represented with Legal Major and Cobra Striking. The latter is lightening quick from the traps and will give supporters a run for their money at 20/1 with Corals, Hills and Sporting Bet. He is likely to need trouble behind though if he's going to stay out in front to the line.

As has been the case lately I'm going to look to the specials for my main bet and that is Movealong Blue to beat Roswell Startrek. Stan James and Blue Square can't split the pair and go 5/6 both dogs but I make 'Blue' around a 2/5 shot to come out on top. I also think that he’s decent value at 7-9 on the 50-25-10 spread market and will be topping up with a small buy.

A fascinating 80th renewal of the Irish Derby from Dublin’s Shelbourne Park is live on Sky Sports 2 tonight. It really does look a race not to miss, coverage starts at 8:00 pm with the big race due off at 9:40 pm.

Speed Figures

T6 – Advantage Johnny 100
T1 – Headleys Bridge 97
T3 – Shelbourne Aston 90
T2 – Ballymac Ruso 88
T5 – Slip The Lark 80
T4 – Maccu Picchu 76

Advantage Johnny tops the figures after getting a flyer in his semi-final, he’s a big chance if he can do the same again. Headleys Bridge has a good draw in the red jacket and will be finishing strongly as will Shelbourne Aston. English representative Ballymac Ruso should be towards the head of affairs early and is not out of it by any means.

Skydogs Tissue

Using the speed figures as a basis and making some adjustment for the draw and likely pace I’ve come up with the tissue below –

9/4 Advantage Johnny, 11/4 Headleys Bridge, 6/1 Ballymac Ruso, 15/2 Shelbourne Aston, 10/1 Slip The Lark, 14/1 Maccu Picchu

Advantage Johnny is available at a very tempting at 5/1. His chance probably depends on him getting out of the boxes as he did in the semi-finals and connections feel he might not be as good in the stripes but I think he’ll get a clear run on the outside with Slip The Lark edging in and that 5’s is just too big. The layers look to have got Headleys Bridge about right at 3/1 but I couldn’t have Ballymac Ruso on my mind at a similar price. Shelbourne Aston has been well supported but is no value at 4/1, a point that also applies to Slip The Lark. That leaves the outsider of the field Maccu Picchu and while it would be difficult to see him getting his nose in front he’s not a 25/1 shot either.

Paddy Power have put up some interesting match bets and Headleys Bridge looks backable at 5/6 to finish in front of Ballymac Ruso. I make him around a 1/2 chance to come home in front of Matt Dartnell’s fawn.

Good luck if you have a bet and best wishes to all the connections, it should be a cracker.

The Steel City Cup from Shefield is the highlight of Sky's coverage tonight. All the action is live on Sky Sports 3 from 19:30 with the big race due off at the usual 21:45.

Speed Figures

T4 - Blonde Dino 100
T1 - Frisby Foxwatch 79
T2 - Affleck Elite 74+
T5 - Centaur Marine 67+
T6 - Farloe Niall 61
T3 - Stepaside Storm 43

Blonde Dino is clear on the figures and the bookies have priced him up accordingly. I think he'll need a bit of luck tonight as he'll have to come through dogs to win. Frisby Foxwatch is next best and is well drawn in the red jacket. Harry Crapper's bitch is capable of leading and if there's trouble in behind she could hang on. Charlie Lister's dogs always have to be feared and his Affleck Elite is capable of improving on the times he's posted so far though he too will have to come from behind.

Skydogs Tissue

Using the speed figures as a basis and adding a bit of tweaking for the draw and likely pace I've come up with the tissue below -

11/10 Blonde Dino, 9/2 Frisby Foxwatch, 15/2 Centaur Marine, 10/1 Affleck Elite, 12/1 Farloe Niall, 16/1 Stepaside Storm

Blonde Dino is the obvious favourite but at a best priced 8/11 he's no value. Centaur Marine is interesting at 11/1 with Sporting Bet given that I have him at 15/2. Chris Allsopp's blue is likely to be at the head of affairs with Frisby Foxwatch early on but I just have the feeling he'll be closed down on the run for home.

Overall this is a tight one to call with nothing stading out as a value bet. If pushed to have a wager it'd be on Affleck Elite who has been put in a match bet Farloe Niall with most of the layers. Both these dogs will be out the back early on but I expect Charlie Lister's charge to stay on the better and the 10/11 available with Sporting Bet is just about value.

Good luck if you have a bet.

Apologies to both my readers for the lack of posts lately, I've been on my hols the last couple of weeks and haven't yet got back into the swing of things.

The Champion Stakes at Romford is the highlight of Sky's card tonight with Lenson Joker a red hot favourite to prevail.

As I'm not really up to speed at the moment I may just try and nick some value on Betfair about these -

19:40 Milldean Flash
20:00 Eye Onthe Veto / Sherries Boy
20:35 Lenson Flash
20:50 Little Boy

Johnny Moyles has been in great form on the Sky cards and is in profit for the year. His selections can be found on his tipping blog, manaboutdog.

Cheers