Premier League supported by GOBATA Championship on Saturday

LOCAL DEE JAY is “plotted up” to win his BETDAQ Premier League proper race at Yarmouth on Saturday where he runs in the final leg of the night over 462 metres - that’s the message from his ebullient trainer, Kelly Findlay!

She says that a plum draw in trap one on the back of a sparkling trial at the Norfolk track on Monday (27.76sec.) should put him spot on and, such is her confidence, she will probably put him up as her joker chasing double points.

“The dog is well in himself and in fact our team this time around has more strength in depth than in round one and I think we’ve a good chance of scoring well for the Dunham Devils. Local Dee Jay runs in the penultimate race of the night, which doesn’t bother the trainer too much.

“All my runners are good kennellers but, having said that, I will get to Yarmouth on the back end of kennelling time, round about half past six, which will give them about half-an-hour less to spend locked away than the early arrivals.”

Miss Findlay has confirmed that any ambitions Local Dee Jay had to become a hurdler are now dead in the water. “He got over the baby jumps fine when he was schooling but the proper hurdles freaked him out big time!” she said.

“He ran a decent trial at Crayford first off, hit the fourth flight and fell in a subsequent trial there, and it was later at Wimbledon where he told us he wasn’t going hurdling any more, he jumped like an elephant there!” So much then for any Springbok aspirations.

Miss Findlay says that the Premier League is a “very good concept and has brought trainers closer together. They’ve all entered the spirit of the competition and the points system is an excellent idea, it all adds to the excitement.”

Local Dee Jay’s race tonight is a battle of the sexes at Yarmouth with three girls, Kelly, the other Kelly, Mrs Macari, and Karen Peake, all with a runner in that last leg. “Kelly’s dog, Mill Spartacus, is promising but he is drawn in trap five and immediately outside Team Desperate’s Kilmore Say Go,” who is, says Miss Findlay, “one of the widest runners I have ever seen!”

Mrs Macari has seeded her dog wide after three runs drawn as a ‘middle.’ “But he’s been moving off from the boxes and getting clobbered so I hope that seeding him wide will keep him out of trouble, it would be nice to see what he can do around Yarmouth with a clear run because he certainly doesn’t lack pace,” she said.

Mad Hatters captain Charles Fanous won’t be selecting Miss Magpie as his joker at Yarmouth, despite the fact that she obliged wearing the funny hat in the Doncaster qualifiers at 12-1! “She’s just coming out of season and I’m not sure she will be fit enough at this stage to get six bends,” he said.

“Penksey John would have been our joker but he split a web and a pad and is recovering after having 16 stitches in the wound. I’ve been enjoying the Premier League immensely but have to admit that just now I haven’t got the dogs. But if we can maintain our fourth place going into Doncaster next month we will be in a good place.”

Nick Savva will be hoping lightning strikes twice when he takes Westmead Adonis and Crossfield Jet back to Yarmouth for the opening round of the GOBATA Championship. He will be looking for both dogs to double up after their Premier League qualifying round wins here last month for the Golden Oldies team and will soon know his fate as they run in back-to-back races, the fourth and fifth on what is an excellent card.

Crossfield Jet will now run from trap two in the sprint race after a re-draw was made following a misunderstanding over the seeding of Slick Stone, who was erroneously entered as a railer but is, in fact, a wide runner.

Savva reports both his runners in good shape but at the same times confesses to a “problem or two” he has had with the Jet, who has not raced since the PL sprint event on December 3 when he bolted home.

“I’ve had one or two niggles with him but I’m getting to know more about him and he’s coming round nicely,” said Savva. His win at Yarmouth almost two months ago now was impressive and certainly a step up on his Irish form where he had plenty of it but was generally disappointing across the pond.

“I’ve no idea why his Irish form was so poor, he’s certainly got ability. The Yarmouth run was an improvement and hopefully he will go forward now but he wants to get out and running on Saturday and, fingers crossed, he will.”

Kennelmate Westmead Adonis has had two races since winning his qualifier, each in a dual distance event at Sittingbourne. The trainer thinks highly of the pup, who loses his juvenile status turn the end of January. Savva's Westmead Bolt comes in to replace Lister's Lonely Boy in Leg 4 of

Yarmouth’s assistant racing manager, Marcus Westgate, is waxing lyrical ahead of the meeting. “The card here on Saturday is outstanding, not only in terms of the greyhounds involved but also the cross section of trainers, a who’s who in the training ranks will be coming here on Saturday and it promises to be as good as, if not better, than a Derby night at Yarmouth, and they’re normally quite good!” he enthused.