The first leg of the BAGS Track Championship was held last Thursday at Romford and both Crayford and Sittingbourne did not fare well with Romford trained-greyhounds winning all 10 races.

Romford now hold an 80-point lead over both rivals ahead of the second leg at Sittingbourne next Thursday. With such a commanding lead, it looks like being a difficult task to stop Romford qualifying from the group.

With Crayford’s home leg last, on November 28, we will be hoping our dogs put in a big performance. The winning track will progress into the grand final.

Back on the home front, all the talk surrounds Canvas Dan trained by Barry O’Sullivan who has won all of his four races here to date – the last two in top grade A1.

The question being asked now, is who is going to stop the dog winning, given the manner of his victories. None of which have been straightforward
trap-to-line performances?

The dog has had to overcome bumping, missed breaks and even stumbled at one point but, nonetheless, prevailed.

He seems a serious dog and, having already beaten the likes of Tinas Junior, Melodys Patsy, Zenas Elena and Magical Roddy, who are all established top-class greyhounds, it would appear Dan will have to incur traffic problems in his races if he is to be beaten.

It may be O’Sullivan will consider open-class races for the youngster. It will be interesting to follow his progress over the coming months.

I would like to point you in the direction of Stamford Molly, who is just 17-months-old and won her debut race here a week ago.

She is currently racing over 380m but looks like getting further having had two races over 480m at both Enniscorthy and Newbridge in Ireland before joining Crayford trainer

Arun Green’s kennels in late August. After her win here, she was upgraded to A2 level and finished a creditable fourth but given that this was only her sixth career race, she is still in the learning phase and looks set to reach our top grade here soon. Expect a decent price when she wins again.

The main feature on Saturday’s card will be the heats of the J B Riney Kent Champion Hurdle which will include defending champion Mo Realta Frank, who won for trainer Ricky Holloway last year.

The dog made no mistake here last weekend when romping home at odds of 5-2 in a time of 23.94 in what will be seen as a warm-up race for the coming Champion Hurdle big race final on Saturday, November 16.

Trainer Holloway is known for his hurdlers and had his three dogs finish first, second and third in last year’s final race.

A repeat win for Mo Realta Frank looks likely in the heats. However, look out also for kennel mate Soviet Military should he be in the event this weekend, while Saleen Tompajoe is a class act on his day and would certainly run a big race if dictating affairs early on.