As I said last week, I have always had a bit of a soft spot for little Liskees Joy and now you will understand why after she won at the weekend at odds of 12-1 in a heat of the Tony Morris Memorial Rose Bowl.

She must have read the script from my column last week and accordingly returned large odds as is usually the case with her. She won on merit fair and square against class opposition running out of trap four which does not suit her.

Having now returned the fastest time of the 12 dogs that go to traps in Saturday evening’s semi-finals, she is now quoted at just 10-1 by the bookies to win the event outright. I don’t see her doing that but I hope you got the 12-1.

Layers have made defending champion Me Buddy just 7-4 to retain his title in the Bowl, having won last year’s event, with the next best priced being at 7-1.

To me those prices are not representative of the chances held with Me Buddy’s price being far too short for a dog that will not win unless he can lead. While I am a big fan of the dog, who is a class greyhound, it is a fact that here he does little unless trapping out in front.

Therefore, the 7-1 upwards available on the other 11 dogs looks generous. I am optimistic that we can land a home win this year so with value in mind as always, I will at this point take Blacknomilk, Bringinhersunny and Tictac Tyson to go through this weekend to the final on Saturday, November 26.

With odds to win outright standing currently at 7-1, 7-1 and 20-1 respectively, there is plenty of value to be had there. On the downside, all three run in the same semi so I hope that they will all get through. The value bet has to be Tictac Tyson at 20-1 which seems extremely generous about a dog that is the track record holder here over the 380m distance.

With two major events here at the moment, we have 18 greyhounds remaining in the John Smiths Kent St Leger. The three semis will be run this Friday (tomorrow) evening with the first two in each race qualifying for the final on Friday week, November 25.

On paper this looks a more open affair and may prove more difficult for a Crayford-trained dog to win. Only four dogs managed to go under the 46.00 seconds barrier over the 740m race distance so the winner can be expected to come from that quartet. Current favourite to win the event Wise Signal won in 45.68 seconds having recorded a sectional time of 23.38.

Quoted at just 3-1 to win the event outright, I prefer the chances of Creamery Quest and U Make Me Smile who both recorded faster times and have current odds of 6-1 and 4-1 respectively.