Sportsman Pat, trained by Ian Stevens, has been in a rich vein of form with three wins and three runners-up finishes in his last nine outings.

During this period, the dog has progressed from A2 to A1 and S2 to S1 grades over 380 and 540m respectively.

His career here started last September and it quickly became clear that he has plenty of early speed which is always going to result in him being a winner.

He is showing no signs of easing up having won his first race in grade S1 last Saturday.

The question is, can he repeat the win in his first attempt in A1 over 380m? I would not bet against that happening, so watch out for the dog over both trips.

Old Boy Pebbles Del has also had plenty of tongues wagging with a hat-trick of wins in the last few weeks.

These have come in grades A3, A2 and now A1 so, despite his age and 113 career races, he is putting the youngsters in their place.

He is one of the most consistent greyhounds we have and he has figured in these grades for more than a year now. While he can be hit and miss, fast starts when he does trap out well mean he is a dangerous dog who will always give 100%.

Retirement may be looming but he has decided it is not yet time, so take advantage of his current form.

On the newcomer front, Yacht Zilla only took four races before two successive wins and seems suited to the track.

After a fairly indifferent start to her career here, she then surprised by winning at odds of 8-1 in grade A6 and her subsequent upgrade to A5 also proved to be no problem last week at odds of 7-2.

It may be prudent to watch her at this stage to see how she fares in an A4 race but given more time, she can continue her winning ways.

Similarly, Seamies Way has won her last two races having had her debut run here in mid-February and she is still learning.

Like all newcomers, she will benefit greatly from each race and I am expecting she will continue to climb up through the grades.

The 540m distance here seems to suit her well and she has, on a couple of occasions, shown decent sectional times.

Those wins do wonders for a dog’s confidence and she should produce further victories at decent prices.