Romford Greyhound Racing / Darrell Williams / 01 December 2008 / Leave a comment

According to Darell Williams it's been a case of so far so good for Bubbly Totti in the Essex Vase, which culminates with the final live from Romford on Sky Sports on Tuesday evening.

Trainer Ted Soppitt now believes the Leger winner is the best he has ever trained, and with a runners-up spot in the Scottish Derby, plus wins in ten of his last eleven starts, it's not difficult to understand why he rates the Champagne Club Syndicate's runner so highly.
This column took a stance at the start of the Vase to try and find one to beat 'Totti', purely on the basis that he might not be suited to the track, and while the year's winning most Open racer - his tally is currently twenty two - has done nothing wrong, it's still probably fair to say he's more effective elsewhere.

That said, he will line up as the only unbeaten finalist, and in a five runner final, he realistically looks the most likely winner. I'd even go as far as to say that [2.2] is not an unreasonable price. Those who followed us in with Droopys Carvalho at the start are advised to at least partially trade out, although perhaps not until the night as I expect him to shorten up a little. John Mullins' Sussex Cup winner has proved the ideal competition dog having also recently contested the Yarmouth Derby and All England Cup finals. My concern is his draw outside Brickfield Dream, who came very close to giving us a massive price winner in the semi-final when only just touched off by Bubbly Totti, and he looks likely to shoot clear again at traps rise.
If 'Carvalho' could sit in that rival's slipstream early on, he is certainly capable of giving Totti a race, especially when you consider he was nearly two lengths faster in his semi-final.

With its regular Friday night fix of Open racing, sifting through the form for the supporting races is a little easier than usual with the card littered with numerous course specialists. That doesn't necessary make winner finding any easier, although in Lethal Freddie I'm confident I'm on the right one for the 9.10 race.
Seamus Cahill's runner has a cracking draw as the only wide runner, while in form Bonville Stan could find Pride N Passion on his case from traps rise. With speedy Younever Cantell, closely matched with Bonville Stan on recent starts, and Carlsberg Flash also likely to play a part early doors, I expect the striped jacketed runner to enjoy a clear run outside before outstaying his rivals.

Hurdler Be All returned from a seven week layoff to beat two of his rivals in the 8.15 the other night, and that confirmation of his well being is more than enough to give him the vote. The Grand National finalist has won eight of his last ten races over CD, and can account for main rival Stevensonsrocket.

I was naturally disappointed that Vatican Jinky's missed break cost him any chance in the Vase semi-finals, especially after we'd taken big odds about his outright chances before the first round. The problem now is trying to anticipate how he will run in the 8.35 race. If he repeats his heat run he wins, but I'd rather take a chance with Stonewall Smithy, who looks plotted up outside railer Presence Of Mind in trap six. The latter did well to overcome a similarly bad draw the other night, but will find it harder to clear classy Droopys Nelson on this occasion.