Off Topic is a dog that should be followed after making an immediate impact here
since his arrival in mid-August.

Now the winner of four of his five races, there seems every chance his steady progress will continue as he gains experience with every run.

His debut race here was in the semi-finals of an Owners Bonus Series race, which he won and the dog was fancied to land the £500 final a week later.

He went to traps for that big race as a short-priced 5-4 favourite but incurred all sorts of traffic problems finishing in a creditable third place.

There has been no looking back since and he has won his last three starts which has resulted in the dog climbing up the grades from bottom grade A8 to his current A4 level. His owners must be delighted.

My second hot dog for you to note is Phat Mary, a dog that came on to our race card in top grade A1 over 380m at the end of June after having had just three races at Thurles in Ireland.

Those races were not particularly impressive, however she has certainly taken a liking to Crayford having won five of her nine to date against some of our best dogs.

While she may be just a little short of being able to beat the best on a regular basis, she is worthy of being among their number.

The dog has only just reached two and is improving her finish times so there is no reason to suspect that she will do anything other than continue to improve.

Good to see Hoots Mon back on the race card after
a lay-off of some six months due to an injury.

The dog returned to the card a fortnight ago and has had two races – winning one and finishing second in the other.

He is a previous A1 dog here who now finds himself in lowly grade A7, so there is plenty of room for scope and I expect further wins from him.

A note for your diaries that the heats of this year’s Carlsberg St Leger will be run on Saturday evening of September 27.

This event will attract 36 of the best dogs from around the country to compete for the £2,500 winner’s prize.

The event is run over 714m, with the semis on October 4 and the final a week later on October 11.