Sky Night Reaction / Jonathan Hobbs / 07 August 2008 / Leave a comment

Sky Sport's Jonathan Hobbs on the dogs to watch after Puppy Derby night at Wimbledon.

Jesters Nap was a worthy winner of Tuesday's live-on-Sky Puppy Derby final at Wimbledon, and for his breeder/trainer Jim Daly it really was the most special of nights.

He actually looks bigger than the near 32-kilos he is, and there is every chance that Jesters Nap will grow into a Classic contender next year. His pace was there for all to see.

Those in behind ran fair races. Eye Onthe Brave was impressive considering there was a doubt abut how the inside was running. To me that was not obvious, until a glance at the results gave credence to the view! But the Puppy Derby third apart, most of the greyhounds on the inside had excuses or were patently not good enough. Feel free to argue the point...!

Mistley Colonel ran a cracker in behind and to his credit London Walter did make things tough for the Mullins dog to get clear. But he showed pace, is improving all the time and will zip home very soon for sure.

Blonde Dino suffered a shock defeat in his 480m race. But before the 'not running on the inside' brigade start hollering, he missed his break and chose the wrong path to pass on a couple of occasions. He remains a better dog when dominating.

But to be fair Bubbly Legend took off, and continues a real purple patch for Paul Young. My horseracing pals keep telling me to back horses trained by Andrew Balding and Willie Haggas and I think it is similar with the Young camp at present.

Indeed, his Bubbly Rambo also caught the eye in the six-bend race. He made Lenson Joker do some serious running between the first and third bends and, while the winner is THE best six-dog in the country, the second is worth following, too, just now.

Kildare Lark regained his 'country's leading hurdler' tag and that was an excellent training performance from the ever modest Jason Foster. The sprint trial gave him a chance to see the third bend at Wimbledon, where he has been prone to take a 'breather'. Hindsight is a wonderful thing, but we should have all be on. Hope you were.

Kilgraney Agassi goes in the notebook ahead of beaten favourite in division two of the jumps race, Kilaharry Henk. The former had not run for six months but showed the sort of form that made him an early Springbok contender. Massive improvement to come.
Keep tabs with Westmead Debbie. She started well in the bitches race but was just tapped for early pace and was shuffled back, losing her position quickly. But she stayed on with purpose and will be back winning races over a stiff four or easy six bends soon.

The first and second in the top division of the bitches race, Droopys Mate and Droopys Geisha, continue in great heart. Neither will be easily beaten next time, likewise Blonde Hero who as very impressive over 460m.

Tags: Blonde Hero, Bubbly Legend, Bubbly Rambo, Droopys Geisha, Droopys Mate, Jesters Nap, Mistley Colonel, Puppy Derby, Westmead Debbie