Take two! Greyhound Grand National gets underway tonight

Events / Editor / 05 April 2008 / Leave a Comment

Darrell Williams on Saturday night's heats at Wimbledon

It's not just Aintree that stages a Grand National on Saturday, as the canine version also kicks off with six first round heats at Wimbledon - coincidence or not I'm unsure, but if it wasn't a marketing ploy it should have been!

For some time now the event has been sold as a two dog contest between Hotdog Jack, the reigning Springbok champion, and hurdler of the year Kildare Lark, and in all honesty the winner really should come from that pair, although there is one dog at a slightly bigger price - which I'll come to later - that makes plenty of appeal.

As for the top two, Hotdog Jack did his cause no harm when comprehensively beating his rival at Walthamstow on Arc final night, which probably explains why he is marginal favourite. That said, he remains a novice, albeit a very good one - you only have to think back to his demolition job in the Springbok (over CD) to realise that Seamus Cahill's runner is more than good enough in the highest company. However, his price offers little in the way of value, given his defeat at Hove on Good Friday, not to mention the fact he has drawn by far the hottest heat, with both Irish National one-two Comans Joe and Tommy Bahama amongst the opposition. With that in mind I have little hesitation in plumping for Kildare Lark, who has been handed a gift of a heat in the first round, and the bonus of a trap one draw in the process.

Quite simply a win machine. He has scored in eight of his last 10 starts, and while surprisingly he has yet to win a really big one - semi-finalist in this event last year and third in both the Irish version and the Champion hurdle - this surely represents his best chance of putting the record straight. I firmly believe there is little between the top two, and would probably have them as joint favourites.

I mentioned there's one other dog that has caught the eye and that's Analyse, something of an unknown quantity, who has joined Lorraine Sams. While unraced since October, his Irish form reads well, both on the flat, which includes runners up spot in the 2006 Lifford Champion stakes plus more recent hurdles competition winning form at Shelbourne. However, it's his very pleasing 2839 trial at Wimbledon the other day, a marked improvement on his earlier efforts that marks him out as one to have on your side, and at current odds he's surely worth at least a saver, especially given that a tilt at this race has long been his target.