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JONATHAN KAY |
Weblog: Our chief correspondent on the topical issues
Scurry significantly still sport's star sprint
MEMORIES of the Scurry Cup’s glorious past flashed into mind following Jolly Poacher’s third Blanchford Gold Cup victory at Oxford last week as the three-peat of Yankee Express in the sprinters’ classic at Slough in 1982/3/4 is the holy grail so far as that achievement is concerned.
On the closure of Slough in 1986, the Scurry – initiated at Clapton lest we forget – found a good home at Catford, but since that London track’s closure, it has been a competition in decline, being staged either at Perry Barr, Belle Vue or not at all.
The GRA deserves credit for ensuring this year’s event has gone ahead at Belle Vue without a sponsor and it has been quite a noteworthy competition as it reflects the changing nature of the sprint scene.
Two-bend action forthe past couple of years was dominated by a trio of top sprinters, Jimmy Lollie (incidentally running for his racing future at Hove on Thursday), Officer Donagh and ill-fated Rotar Wing, but for one reason or another their time has passed and new stars are emerging.
Sure, defending champion Slick Citi has made Thursday’s final at the Zoo, but he has done so unspectacularly, whereas the likes of Chris Lund’s Hurry Back and Ann Lagan’s Cloncunny Magic have put in excellent performances and Drumcrow Magic has shown glimpses of his top-class Irish form.
At £3,000 to the winner, the Scurry remains the joint-most valuable sprint in the Calendar and deserves star billing even on a night when Henlow’s £15,000 Primus Telecom Derby has three high-class semi-finals.
The draw for those was not kind in one sense pitting Taylors Sky, Blonde Snapper, Freds Champ and Ten Large Down in the sameopener, but in another regard it was for Taylors Sky and it looks his competition for the taking which would surely nail down Greyhound of the Year once and for all.
Travel wise, it has been a local week for me beginning with a trip to Newcastle for the denouement of the williamhill.com All England Festival, a night that sadly got off to the worst possible start when Mark Wallis lost promising youngster New Phase after he took a terrible fall in the opener.
These things can happen, but it never gets any easier to take or indeed watch. Wallis, although naturally very upset, did praise Newcastle vet Frances Allen for the way the situation was handled.
The big headlines went on to be made by Kelly Macari as the Sunderland trainer completed a fabulous Category One double when Mill Bling Bling took the All England Cup final just 20 minutes after kennelmate Unreal Timmy had landed the Northern Puppy Derby.
After last year’s exploits with Mill Pinpoint, who completed the same Steel City/All England Cup double as Mill Bling Bling, Macari really should be on everyone’s shortlist as a potential trainer. The 2010 success did not bring the hoped-for influx of top class greyhounds into her kennel, and there is an acknowledgement that being based in the north-east can be seen as a disadvantage, but there’s surely no doubt now that she can do the business.
Also on the agenda was Sunderland for the first staging of the Joe Hardy Memorial there. The former Pelaw competition attracted a few stars and they all safely made it through Wednesday’s heats only, as at Henlow, for the law of Sod to chuck them all in together in one semi-final so any ideas Chris Allsopp had about easy Trainers’ Championship pickings with Ballymac Ace will need to be revised ahead of his clash with fellow heat winers Magna Buddy, Manilla Flash and Droopys Maxwell on Saturday.
In other news, the Betdaq Premier League was announced last week and the £43,000 in new prize money it promises to offer has to be welcomed.
Key now for the organisers is ensuring the concept does not turn cliquey and become the plaything of a few leading handlers. Word that a few trainers, whether private or attached to one particular track, are joining forces to enter teams is encouraging in that regard although I’d suggest that every team needs an identity, a reason for being if you like and not just be a grouping of convenience.
Sky Sports will cover the first action live from Doncaster on Yorkshire Leger final night, but the impact on them also needs to be considered. If top greyhounds are being tied up elsewhere, it will only weaken the cards that Sky is able to show which cannot be anything other than bad given the value to the sport of their continued coverage.
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