Greyhounds Betting: Maldini's Presitge Dilemma

General / Jonathan Hobbs / 03 January 2009 / Leave a Comment

Romeo Maldini hasn't put a foot wrong so far in his quest to continue an unbeaten run over six bends but Hawks Dilemma is out to halt him. Jonathan Hobbs reports from the Prestige heats ...

Hawks Dilemma emerged as one very much to follow with a great effort over Hall Green's six bends on Friday in a Prestige heat.

His trainer Seamus Cahill, surely a contender for champion trainer honours in 2009, will have been thrilled with the performance and it justified the rave reviews he got here after a good peformance in defeat at Wimbledon.

That was behind in-form Romeo Maldini, who was also a Prestige heat winner on Friday. And while the latter came through a tough heat against back-to-form Butterbridge Ali, Hawks Dilemma was quickest on the clock, not bad for a dog from whom 645m could be considered on the short side of perfect for him.

Hawks Dilemma could still be a major threat to Romeo Maldini's anticipated barnstorming run through the Prestige, but win or lose in Tuesday's semi or, if qualifiying, Tuesday week's live-on-Sky final, the Hove dog can pick up other races over more testing trips.

The aforementioned Butterbridge Ali should also be kept on the right side of. He hardly got an uncontested lead in his heat, and then refused to cave in when Romeo Maldini swooped past. He is open to improvement, being still lightly raced for his age. And his style of running suits Hall Green.

The relatively short run to the bend for the Prestige requires dogs to be on the premises sooner rather than later and Romeo Maldini will still need to be careful if he's to continue an unbeaten run over six bends. So far, however, he's not put a foot wrong with four fluent successes since being stepped up by Dave Firmager, who probably wishes he'd done it sooner!

From six bends to two, and the thumbs-up for a dog called Greenlough Speed. He's trained by a man who won a St Leger at Wembley in the 1990s in the shape of Tony Bullen senior, father of the Racing Post correspondent, and he has a cracking dog on his hands.

Boasting terrific speed, Greenlough Speed was unlucky again at Romford on Friday but with fortune on his side should rack up the wins in time.

Another dog from Romford's Friday meeting worth staying with Lambstown Top, who made it two wins from three starts in his fledgling British career with a gutsy victory in open class. A nice sort.

And in terms of a trainer to follow, how about Ricky Holloway? Perhaps in the news more off the track than off it in 2008 with the Save Our Stow campaign, a double at Romford on Friday suggests the kennel goes into the new year in very good shape.