Sky Night Reaction / Jonathan Hobbs / 14 November 2008 / Leave a comment

How ironic that having spent most of the last six months believing that Lenson Joker was a shoo-in for the Greyhound of the Year title, only for Bubbly Totti to seemingly gatecrash the party at the St Leger, Boherna Best now looks destined to beat them both - or will he?

That is the question that greyhound fans will be asking themselves now.
The six-bend stars seemed to have an edge on them all for the overall honor, but Boherna Best's third Category One success at Newcastle on Wednesday will definitely have the purists amongst the voting members of the Greyhound Writers' Association- those in search of speed- purring more about Barrie Draper's dog than the staying types who rival him for the gong.

Boherna Best was simply awesome in the Sky final, and Trevor Draper's assertion that he could be even better next year definitely carries weight. He is lightly raced, is not even two-and-a-half, and is bred to stay the distance career-wise. He is a repeat mating of the one that produced Barnfield On Air no less.

Of course, punting-wise he is well exposed, but he remains top of the tree amongst the four-benders. However, credit must also go to Dotland Hit Man, the runner-up. Any less a greyhound than Boherna Best would have succumbed to his challenge and he heads for Ireland in the early part of next year for another Seamus Graham campaign. Keep tabs with this real improver.

In terms of the undercard at Newcastle, Boherbradda Mac surely sealed the Sprinter of the Year title with victory in the two-bend race, but third-placed Rathluich Black caught the eye in third with the way he wouldn't let Farley Legend through on the inner.

Was Not Me looks a real nippy sort, and time-wise a fast one at that. Her puppy success augurs well for the future and she should continue to improve, while two older dogs who caught the eye in the stayers' race won by Carbarns Tom were runner-up Ballyea Honcho and third-placed Greedy Birdie.

Both found trouble along the way and both almost felt their way round a track they didn't know, but neither was beaten that far. Good efforts.

Mountjoy Gold lost no caste in the race won by Big Cats, indeed he possibly even enhanced his reputation and should be backed next time, while Lochbo Meg's poor trapping cost her in the race won by Mustang Garcia. She still remains an Oaks bitch for me, along with Thursday's Belle Vue scorer Killough Belles.

Flying Winner had to dig deep to win the marathon and a lesser bitch would have jacked it in, for sure. She was bumped and bullied for most of the trip, and hates bends clearly, but the long straights of Newcastle (and Doncaster; and Hove) do suit her and her class won out in the end. She is a backer's dream in running!

Off the TV card, Barrie Draper's fine run continued with Magna Dave showing what a classy sort he is when on the bunny. If this inconsistent trapper can keep getting it right, he will win plenty of races. But the runner-up Apache Dawn looked back on-song in behind and is worth keeping with.