It has been an eventful season for the greyhound code. Photo / File
It has been an eventful season for the greyhound code. Photo / File
Friday evening's Hatrick meeting marks the end of what has been a rather eventful 2020/21 racing season for the greyhound code.
Unsurprisingly, the last open class 520m event (race 9) for the season is again dominated by Lisa Cole-prepared greyhounds and kennel rivalry is intense, as seen by the resultsfrom the most recent Friday clashes at the top level.
For example, Big Time Pluto delivered a minor upset when she stylishly prevailed in last Friday's version of this 520m race. She returned a personal best clock with her cracking 29.84s gallop.
A repeat of that time can see her replicating that performance this evening. She normally races in the middle of the track; therefore, her six-trap draw here isn't likely to overly faze her.
Once again, the warmly backed favourite from recent weeks, Jillliby Litsa, has drawn kindly, being allocated the one trap. She raced from that trap last week from where she kicked on stoutly for her 6.5-length second. Her winning claims can never be lightly dismissed.
The promising Big Time Atomic would have learnt a fair bit about the rigours of racing in open class company when he had his first taste of top-level racing last week. He suffered from a traffic-impeded racing passage.
Receiving an improved draw via trap-two can greatly aid his post-race podium claims. He has previously delivered a slick 29.69s best 520m time, which underlines his undoubted potential.
He lines up for his 15th career race here, while on the other end of the experience scale is Bigtime Brody, who will be loaded away into the traps for his 143rd race. He showed he retains his zest for racing when delivering his bold Monday 23.07s Palmerston North 410m win.
Speaking about experience, Trojan Hoarse is contesting his 155th race from the Cole kennels when he lines up in the race 5 305m open class sprint. He was solid when he produced his 1.25 length second last Friday.
Sure, his trap-five draw isn't helpful; however, his proven record from this tricky trap says yet another competitive sprint can be expected from this veteran chaser.
Kennelmate Big Time Nala scampered clear to win last week's 305m dash in 17.59s. Being provided with the ace-trap says he holds repeat claims.
Spook is a recent graduate into the open class sprinting ranks. He didn't receive any racing favours when he sprinted from the eight-trap last week. His improved trap-two allocation can assist this locally John McArthur-trained sprinter.
Others to consider in this dash are Allegro Smooch and Big Time Fuzz, who both add to a competitive-looking field.
