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Essex Vase Betting: Does Jinky have enough to reel in Veto?

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Romford's big night of action is previewed by Darrell Williams...

Sky cameras head to Romford on Tuesday for a valuable night's racing featuring no fewer than three high-class finals.

For those who took my advice last week to back Eye Onthe Veto for the Essex Vase, things could not look better with Mark Wallis' course specialist now around [1.5] to capture the £10,000 pot for the second successive year. Wallis himself was bullish about his runner's chance of a repeat victory when I spoke to him on Betfair Radio's Tuesday afternoon greyhound programme last week, highlighting both the dog's love of Romford and also the added advantage of being seeded wide which has not only secured him trap six but also resulted in a vacant box alongside after the unfortunate withdrawal of Lenson Joker.

Vatican Jinky did make some headway into Veto's five length lead in the semi-final and with slow starter Go Marco Polo alongside should again give the selection most to do and would be the only alternative for those not wanting to play the favourite at this stage. For those already on the jolly ante-post, a small trade out might be the safest option.

The Gold Cup looks a two dog affair on paper with Westmead Aoifa, my ante post choice, biding to turn around heat form with Vieris Surprise. While Aoifa remains very much a player, it's hard not to have been impressed by Vieris Surprise's victory in a heat which saw the elimination of Spiridon Louis, suggested as one to take on last week, and I fancy Dean Childs' in-form bitch to claim the honours, given that she should have few problems in leading Romford Car Two on her inside to set up an all the way victory.

The Classic Shield final looks another potential two dog heat with Baran Hawaii given the vote to see off old rival Horseshoe Ping. Both are exceptionally fast greyhounds - Horseshoe Ping setting a new sprint track record at Walthamstow recently when narrowly beating his perhaps unlucky rival. The pair recorded identical times in their heats and it's possible to make a case for both - they each boast exceptional strike rates at Romford, but I just fancy Baran Hawaii to get first run, which may be enough to secure the prize.

Wimbledon also stages the first round heats of the Oaks on Tuesday where Blonde Jeannie, first posted as my long term fancy on these pages more than a month ago, remains my idea of the eventual winner. John Mullins' bitch reached the Derby quarter-finals and was runner-up in the Reading Masters, before more recently winning at the Racing Post Festival. While she faces last year's third Jazz Hurricane in the opening round, she has fared far better than useful puppy Westmead Tina, another of my early suggestions, who has been drawn with speedy Broadway Sizzler amongst other useful sorts in her heat.

Nevertheless, I still respect the outright claims of Nick Savva's youngster, who got up on the line to claim the Puppy final at the Racing Post Festival a fortnight ago and has already proved her worth at the Plough Lane circuit. At this stage, I'm going to add in Handy Princess to the portfolio, one of just two Irish trained bitches in the line up. Graham Holland's runner has only recently returned to the track after a layoff, but won a valuable pot at Galway in the spring, and faces a relatively straightforward first round assignment. Her fast trial at Wimbledon last week suggests she's more than capable of playing a leading role.

What do you think? Has Darrell called it right? Or can Veto be stopped at Romford?