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Monmore Puppy Derby Betting: Ballymac may be gone, but Dartnall still has a contender

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Darrell Williams previews Thursday night's betting from Monmore

Generally considered to be the hottest of all the puppy competitions, the Ladbrokes Puppy Derby climaxes tonight at Monmore with the destination of the prize still very much up for grabs.

Despite the shock elimination of Ballymac Under in the first round, up-and-coming handler Matt Dartnall must still fancy his chances of claiming the pot with Ardmayle Champ, along with Ballymac Ken one of two unbeaten finalists in the line up. Dartnall's runner, whose only defeat so far was when second to highly regarded Ninja Jamie at Wimbledon last month, has proved a perfect second string, accounting for tonight's rival Lenson Threeways in both heat and semi-final. The latter ran a particularly pleasing effort given that, despite stumbling at the start and taking a bump at the bend, he was still good enough to deliver. While I rate his chances strongly, it is local runner Droopys Mikel who earns the vote for trainer Karen Prince.

Off from December until winning in a good time in A1 company just before the competition, 'Mikel' showed plenty of early dash from an uncomfortable middle draw in the heats before crowding at the first turn resulted in his eventual defeat. But it's his semi-final victory from more familiar trap one territory - the draw he has this evening - that swings the odds in his favour, with a fast start on that occasion soon putting him in pole position to overcome useful Burnpark Champ and with a bit to spare. Another break like that and this improving home runner will take some stopping. That's not to say it will be easy, with connections of 'Champ', also trained locally by Chris Allsopp, no doubt quick to point out his rapid 28.07 run when hosing up in the heats. With only three races on his card, Burnpark Champ could easily put that semi-final run behind him, but in my opinion he had every chance on that occasion and on the night was not good enough.

Whatever happens tonight, one thing is for certain, this is a race to keep a close eye on in the coming months as it's bound to come up time and time again as a link to future big races.

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Oxford holds centre stage next Tuesday for the William Hill Pall Mall final, a post-Easter treat with the action all live on Sky Sports. While I will examine the card in detail as usual early next week, ante-post prices are currently doing the rounds for the feature race. My long range pick Brickfield Class ran almost too bad to be true when one of a number of shock eliminations in the semis, and you have to sense something was amiss with Bob Gilling's runner, whose consistency as discussed in the preview last week was his biggest weapon.

Having viewed the semis the other night - thanks again to Sky for including them in the Trainers Championship programme - my vote will be going to Spears Tarquynn in the final. Fighting back gamely against Conker All ,who held every chance after getting to Claude Gardiner's charge at the second bend, the Hove runner has now won six of his last seven outings, including when accounting for Barnfield On Air on home sand recently, and he makes most appeal in what looks a competitive final.