And it’s nip and tuck at the top at Yarmouth
THERE’S all to play for in the BETDAQ Premier League as evidenced in the first round proper at Yarmouth on Saturday when a mere short-head separated the three top teams.
Matt Dartnall’s Team Desperate got up in the photo with 27 points, putting him at the top of the tree but with dead-heaters Team North East and Imperial Rock Its snapping at their heels when dead-heating for second place on 26!
It could not have been closer and bodes well for round two back at Yarmouth next Saturday week when they do it all over again and by which time things could be desperately close when the show draws to a conclusion at Doncaster next month.
Premier League goes back to Norfolk on Saturday...
DON’T blink and miss it is the advice if you are planning a visit to Yarmouth on Saturday for the start of the BETDAQ Premier League Proper and where the sprint leg of the competition promises to be the race of night.
All five races have a competitive look about them but the two-bend dash is a cracker and only the brave would rule out the chances of any of these early birds, least of all Lil Risky, one of three runners drawn in trap one on Saturday trained by Mark Wallis (Imperial Rock Its), who could be forgiven for thinking that all his birthdays have come at once!
Lil Risky’s latest race here was in early December when he bolted up by almost four lengths from French Blue in impressive time and add to that the fact that he has been beaten only once in his five latest races from the inside box! A good thing then do we hear you say?
. . . and now it’s full steam ahead for Yarmouth
PAUL PHILPOTT, humorously infamous for his rendition of ‘Fawg On The Tyne’ on Sky a few months back - even Gazza’s version was easier on the ear! - has been battling with kennel sickness at his Wisbech base over the holiday period but reports that his dogs are “now coming round and over the worst of it.”
And another 12 days before the first round proper at Yarmouth should enable Coin Case and Allen Thunder - who Philpott has put forward for the Premier League Proper there on January 14 for the Charles Fanous-captained Mad Hatters team - to make a complete recovery.
“I’d not had kennel sickness here for five years but it came with a vengeance a few days before Christmas, such a vengeance that on Christmas Day it took me four hours to give the kennel a clean, and a very thorough clean it was too,” said Philpott.
“From what I can gather just about everyone’s kennel has had the sickness, it must be something to do with the mild weather we’re having. In the previous five years we’ve had real cold snaps at around this time and I had not a bother,” added Philpott.
Allen Thunder has been in fine form for the trainer at Henlow in recent weeks, winning two of his three sprint races and running second in the other. Coin Case won his Premier League qualifier at Doncaster, leading off the first bend to beat Romeo Patriot and is reported in good shape by the trainer.
“Charles, our captain, is now in France but is flitting backwards and forwards and in charge of matters and we’re both trialling dogs at Yarmouth in readiness for the big night as is Karen Peake,” concluded Philpott, from whom a ‘Fawg’ encore is not requested!
Macaris considering their options...
NO guarantees but Tony and Kelly Macari have not ruled out the possibility of calling upon the services of the star of their Trimdon, County Durham kennels, Mill Bling Bling, as the BETDAQ Premier League draws to a conclusion between now and the end of February.
The competition proper gets under way at Yarmouth on January 14 when Jimmy Wright will provide the bulk of the Team North East squad but the Macaris may also have a runner there, although it is uncertain who that runner might be at this stage.
“We’re taking one or two down to Yarmouth for trials on Saturday but will see how Jimmy’s dog fair there in a fortnight’s time before we think about strengthening up the team later in the competition,” said Kelly’s husband, Tony.
For her part, Kelly says Team North East will have much the same look as it did at Doncaster in the qualifiers in November. “Jimmy’s got a fair chunk of dogs and should do well but we will see how things pan out before we look ahead to the last rounds of the Premier League back at Doncaster in February,” she said.
Savva banking on his newcomer from Ireland
PREMIER LEAGUE punters showed a healthy profit by following the trainers’ ‘Jokers’ at Doncaster last month and will be hoping for more of the same at Yarmouth on Saturday.
This time around no fewer than twelve jokers will be played and you could get off to a flying start by following Mays Harvestmoon in the first race of the night, the opening leg of Pool B for puppies.
Francis Lenton’s February 10 youngster is a good traveller, having won two of his three latest races, open events over 480 metres at Nottingham, and furthermore has winning form over tonight’s track and distance, having sauntered up here in September in a smart 27.87sec.
Knowing your way around Yarmouth is a big advantage over those who have no experience of the circuit and while Mays Harvestmoon has a prison cell of a draw in four take on board the fact that when winning here six weeks ago he was only slightly better drawn in three.
Nick Savva has a sense of humour, that’s for sure, but he seems serious about the chance of his joker in the seventh race, the sprint qualifier in Pool C. He is pinning his hopes on a recent arrival from Ireland who will be making his debut for the trainer, Crossfield Jet.
The dog has shown exceptional early speed in qualifying trials at Henlow and is a winner around two bends in Ireland, and in good company. Like Mays Harvestmoon he will need to ping from trap four but this particular joker could have the last laugh on the bookies!
We wondered whether Westmead Adonis might have been a safer Savva joker, but who are we to question the man! The Adonis runs in the puppy race in Pool C and ran a blinder behind Coolavanny Bert at Sittingbourne on Sunday.
More than that, two littermates were winners for the Westmead man at Henlow on Thursday, Bubbly Swallow and Westmead Aouita, and Adonis is more our idea of a Premier League nap at Yarmouth?
Mind you, a certain Mr Pruhs has a runner here and he could be anything, his name is Extremely and he looks useful, in fact extremely useful!
*The Yarmouth meeting is live on Premier Sports, Sky Channel 433.
YARMOUTH are upping their racecard print order for Saturday’s meeting featuring the qualifying races of the BETDAQ Premier League.
“It’s hard to judge just precisely how many cards to print but bearing in mind the quality of the meeting and the fact that we are now running into the Christmas parties season it will be quite a few more than we would usually print for a Saturday meeting,” said Yarmouth director, Simon Franklin.
“We are chock-a-block in the restaurant and the executive lounge and are anticipating a good many ‘new faces.’ Our bookmakers are thinking the same way, no doubt in the expectation that the top class dogs and top class trainers coming here will also bring in a number of serious punters to the ring.
“Lots of good dogs, a good number of them open racers, will be running and it seems sure to be a good night all round so my print order will be in the region of at least 1,000.”
. . . and don’t rule out a winner (or two) for the man from Barton
THE sick, lame and lazy list that has dented the BETDAQ Premier League chances of Captain Dave Smith’s Greyhoundscene Dream Team has seen Harlow-based trainer Phil Simmonds come to the rescue somewhat via his four runners who are on active service in the Pool B qualifiers at Yarmouth on Saturday.
“I wouldn’t say coming to the rescue exactly, yes I have four runners but they are hardly world-beaters but they will be turning out after my team-mates Dave Smith and Lee Gifkins had some bad luck with injuries and one thing and another,” said Simmonds from his base in Barton, Cambridgeshire yesterday.
While the Simmonds quartet will face the might of the Seamus Cahill and Mark Wallis kennels to name but two, the Harlow trainer has been fortunate with the traps draw. “I can honestly say that I’ve got four cracking draws and, while Soviet Britney has trap three, believe it or not that’s her best box,” he enthused.
BY the time the Premier League qualifiers are all over at Yarmouth this Saturday chances are that Bury St Edmunds trainer Eric Cantillon will need a new set of tyres for his dog van – and a service too come to that!
“I brought three dogs over from Ireland for the Premier League and they all ran three trials in ten days and I‘m back again at Yarmouth tonight and Wednesday with other dogs I have in mind for the competition,” said Cantillon, whose kennels have been in outstanding form in recent weeks.
A trainer who clearly leaves nothing to chance, Cantillon’s Blackrose Jets team are, according to the man, all in fine fettle. “The dogs from Ireland would have had ten days to freshen up come Saturday while the rest of them are on their toes.
“My family and I are really looking forward to Yarmouth and you can sense the camaraderie amongst us trainers, it’s great stuff.” So is a table in the restaurant at the Norfolk track at the weekend, but try getting one, Eric tried . . . and has been accommodated, mind you he booked weeks ago!
Saturday’s BETDAQ card live on Premier Sports
THE draw for the Yarmouth qualifiers in the BETDAQ Premier League this Saturday produced some interesting contests yesterday and Kelly Findlay, representing Jane Houfton’s Dunham Devils, will be particularly pleased with the trap one plucked out for her Kent Derby runner-up, Local Dee Jay.
The dog, who came over from Ireland just before the Derby with the intention of trying his hand at hurdling, has been schooled over the jumps but has never in fact raced competitively over hurdles, having done nicely thank you restricted to the flat, winning seven times in 19 starts.
But trap one or not, the Dee Jay will need to be on his toes against the likes of Matt Dartnall’s Farloe Ironman, a fast improving youngster who has won five of his nine opens including the last two in smart time over 515 metres at galloping Hove.
“We’re the outsiders but will learn plenty,” he says
JIM REYNOLDS, captain of the Romford Raiders BETDAQ Premier League team, says the competition is a work in progress as far he and his fellow team-mates are concerned.
“We are going to Yarmouth on Saturday as outsiders for the event and we knew we would before even entering,” said Reynolds, “but we’re all looking forward to the challenge and we will do our best and, should we happen to qualify, well it would be a big bonus!
“What we will take away from the inaugural running is the knowledge of how to approach the Premier League next time round. It is very much a learning curve for the Romford Raiders this time and we will learn plenty from the experience.”
However, not everyone shares the captain’s PL prospects, and this includes the punter who tried to back the Reynolds team at a first show 500-1! Did he know something the team members didn’t know?
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