Filofax eyes quick start in search of maiden victory
Trainer Brian Thompson hopes the ‘tremendous early pace’ of Vixons Filofax gives him a shot at glory in Open race action at Monmore Green tomorrow.
With the £10,000 Ladbrokes Winter Derby coming to a head last week and Churchfield Syd sensationally clinching the prize for Hove handler Richard Rees, attention now turns to greyhounds born in or after April 2022 with the Premier Greyhound Racing Puppy Derby starting on March 16.
Tomorrow sees three one-off Opens take place with dogs eligible for that competition, and Filofax runs from trap five in the 12th and final race on the lunchtime card.
The April ’22 pup – formerly known as Easy King – is looking to register his first British victory having had four races since being purchased at auction at the Wolverhampton track last summer.
Assessing his chances, Thompson said: “He’s got tremendous early pace. He does 15.40secs regularly in sprints so he’s got every chance of leading if he traps.
“If he doesn’t trap, he won’t win, but he’s got every chance with that early pace.
“It’s worth a shot going in it. He wasn’t staying when we first got him, but he did a decent trial over four bends last week in 28.64secs.
“It’ll be interesting to see how he goes. We’re giving it our best shot.”
Filofax is one of seven runners tomorrow lunchtime for Thompson, whose dogs have also been running well in the graded ranks at Monmore. He was second in the trainers’ standings for win percentage heading into this weekend.
Filofax’s owner Matt Povey, who runs local contracting firm Vixon Contracts and names all of his greyhounds with the ‘Vixons’ prefix, added: “He’s on his journey back to fitness and we’re looking forward to seeing how he goes.
“His last competitive run was in November so, hopefully, he traps well and can keep building momentum over the next several weeks.”
The other two Opens tomorrow are mainly made up of visiting trainers’ dogs and race 10 should be an interesting affair.
Belinda Green (Hove) flyer Gary The Arb runs from trap four after a blistering 28.18secs in victory last weekend.
Mark Wallis’ Vis A Vis – also victorious at Monmore last weekend – is among those competing in race 11.
