Crossfield Jack will have surprised many as he romped in at 10-1 on Saturday in the second semi-final of the top grade A1 Owners Bonus event.

I had, on the night, tipped him to several racegoers in the knowledge that if he trapped out fast he’d probably win.

He is one of the fastest greyhounds away from the boxes and looks to have a realistic chance of winning the final this Saturday.

The first semi-final was won by Indian Alfie – a dog I have tipped here in recent weeks and at the top of his game.

So they meet in the final along with four other top performers, but with Crossfield Jack winning in 23.75sec compared to Indian Alfie’s 24.03 the former must have a great chance of landing the £500 prize.

Jack was followed home by Sharons Delight and Ryves Rock, while Melodys Patsy and Lolos Hurricane followed Alfie across the line.

The problem in identifying the winner is in that we only have one “wide” runner in Sharons Delight. The other five would like traps one to three ideally so, as always, the trap draw will now play a major part in the outcome.

Indian Alfie would always want trap one, as would Ryves Rock who is better when running from that trap as opposed to trap two.

The others normally run from two or three but on Saturday two dogs have to be allocated traps four and five which, while wider than normal for them, could give them the rare opportunity to “pick up the hare” a little quicker.

I have to admit I do not have a clear favourite, so you have to go with the known facts.
The final trap line-up reads Indian Alfie (1), Ryves Rock(2), Lolos Hurricane(3), Crossfield Jack (4), Melodys Patsy (5) Sharons Delight (6).

The only dog that appears to be guaranteed a clear run up to the first bend is Sharons Delight and that may make all of the difference.

He has the early speed to get that all-important advantage at the turn and the others may hinder one another if he gets across the field heading into the bend. I take Sharons Delight to win.