Senahel Sydney sets the pace at Monmore
Senahel Sydney set the pace as Monmore kicked off a brand-new series of competitions for the track’s top graded greyhounds.
The Ladbrokes.com Top Grade Kennel Sweepstakes on Thursday night saw Monmore’s best four-bend dogs go at it across three A1 heats, with the top two from each advancing to next week’s final.
Sydney, trained by Nathan Hunt and owned by Paul Blane, caught the eye in heat two as he clocked a thoroughly impressive 28.29secs.
Hunt has been on cloud nine since winning the Puppy Cup over at Romford with Scooby Diamond last week and had more reason to cheer as that winning time for Sydney was a career best, pinging out from trap six and triumphing by four-and-a-quarter lengths.
Coologue Pest, trained by Brian Thompson and owned by Arcadian Racing, took heat three in a time of 28.54 having led all the way from trap one. He has been drawn on the rail for the final as well.
Vampire Bob, trained by Gary Griffiths and owned by the David De Broomhead Syndicate, was the victor in the first heat (28.85), running on to take the spoils after missing the break.
Aero Boris (Richie Taberner), Common Canter (Brian Thompson) and Longacres Daddy (Pat Doocey) made the final with second-place finishes.
The event begins a new monthly initiative from Monmore to give owners of graded greyhounds something more of a big competition feel, with the prize money for the final (£300 to the winner and £65 for others) the same as it would be for an Open race.
The format is due to be replicated across both two and six bends, and at lower grades over the standard 480m trip too.
Monmore, meanwhile, have successfully raised more than £1,200 for Greyhound Trust Wolverhampton having now sold out of their ‘Monmore Superstars’ trading cards.
The handy collectibles were sold in packs of five for £3 each and all profits from the project have gone towards looking after the track’s retired racers as they await their forever homes.
