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Essex Vase betting: Get on Veto to destroy rivals once more

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Darrell Williams looks ahead to Romford's prestigious Essex Vase, which runs on Tuesday 4th December...

Romford's Essex Vase culminates with a live final on Sky Sports next Tuesday (4th December), but before that there are three semi-finals to be resolved this Wednesday.

Three greyhounds dominate the market after last weekend's heats with Lenson Joker, Vatican Jinky and Eye Onthe Veto all destroying their rivals to score by seven or more lengths. Lenson Joker, runner-up in the St Leger, clocked marginally the quickest time and has come out best in the semi-final draw by avoiding his two big rivals. A winner also at the Racing Post Festival last week, he remains in fine form and should comfortably qualify for trainer Tony Collett and connections headed by popular owner Len Ponder.

enson Joker also contested Romford's other major six-bend event, the Champion Stakes, finishing fourth to Vase rival Eye Onthe Veto, who again though looks the greyhound to beat in the competition outright. Course specialists are always a good source of winners and the Mark Wallis-trained runner absolutely adores Romford having won no fewer than 12 of his 15 starts at the track, most importantly also numbering victory in this race 12 months ago amongst his haul.

While his semi-final looks tough, given that the opposition includes Gold Collar winner Vatican Jinky - an impressive first round winner despite the lack of a previous look at the track - that rival faces a daunting task avoiding speedy Dainty Prince at traps rise, all of which should allow Eye Onthe Veto a clear run to victory on the outside; more so, if he traps as well as he did last weekend. Given that scenario, I find it hard to ignore the claims of Eye Onthe Veto for outright honours and I recommend him as the ante-post wager, with Lenson Joker understandably the biggest danger. For those looking for a bigger price option, a small saving wager on Dainty Prince is also suggested.

Romford's Sky card also includes the final of the Gold Cup, a new event for marathon runners, with Monday's heats attracting some classy hounds, none more so than recent Leger winner Spiridon Louis and Westmead Aoifa, third in the same competition.

Lorraine Sams' Spiridon Louis has had an amazing year, also including the TV Trophy and Regency amongst his honours and comes here after last week's win at the Racing Post Festival. While I'm a big fan of the greyhound, particularly given his versatility - I find it amazing that he is so big on the Greyhound of the Year betting against Barnfield On Air - on this occasion I think Westmead Aoifa could is the one to be with outright. Runner-up in last season's Essex Vase, Nick Savva's bitch runs Romford particularly well, as confirmed by a decent trial the other day, while 'Louis' is not only unproven under competition rules at the track, but also faces a tough task to lead in his heat with fast trapping Vieris Surprise drawn on his inside.

The Dean Childs' bitch clocked the fastest time of the year the other day and could take some passing. Local Knowledge, another Leger finalist, might also be worth a trade outright after a brace of decent trials.

I'll take Two Nicks to win what has been a muddling Eclipse at Nottingham on Monday. Surprises have been the order of the day throughout, with Fear Haribo, fortunately now hopefully able to race again, amongst the shock eliminations. The selection has been running over six bends recently, and was runner-up in the Gold Collar, but ran well in defeat in his semi-final last week and rates the one to beat if anywhere near the front at halfway.