Sport

The Yorkshire St Leger: Highlight of the greyhound calendar

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Our WilliamHill.com Greyhound experts are looking at today’s Yorkshire St Leger one of the highlights of the calendar and is run at Doncaster Greyhound Stadium over a stiff trip of 661m. This competition has attracted some of the best stayers in the sport since it was first run in 2004 and the 2019 renewal looks set to be a cracker too.

A fantastic list of runners will line up in 6 heats to battle it out for a place in the next round, and ultimately, a place in the final where there is £12,000 waiting for the winner.

Top trainers from all over the country including Mark Wallis, Patrick Janssens and Angela Harrison will bring their best dogs to compete against local trainers Anneliese Thompson and Hayley Keightley to see which dog will be crowned the King or Queen of 6 bends.

Heat 1

Doncasters track specialists Droopys Live drawn in her favourite trap 1. Last years semi-finalist is unbeaten in her last 5 runs (4 of which were at Doncaster) and she shouldn’t have any problems winning this heat. Colston Pearl has finished 2nd to Droopys Live twice recently and Good Champ has been running well at Hove, these 2 could well fight it out for 2nd place.

Heat 2

Looks a weak heat other than Sheldan who was unlucky in the Kent St Leger at Crayford when running into trouble in the final. Doncasters longer straights should suit the Summer Stayers Classic winner and see her progress to the next round without any issues. Droopy Tulip is interesting after winning her maiden race at this trip at Doncaster last week, a repeat of that performance should be enough to see her through to the next round.

Heat 3

Contains another one of the fancied runners to win the competition outright in Aayamza Express. She has been running brilliantly at Romford over 575m and this slightly longer trip shouldn’t be an issue for the Mark Wallis trained bitch. Leemount Venus will be interesting to watch as she will be staying on strongly towards the end of the race.

Heat 4

A tough heat sees Kent St Leger finalist Brigadier Bullet line up in trap 6. This longer run to the bend at Doncaster may well suit him as will the slightly shorter distance compared to the 714m at Crayford. Haggswood River is in trap 3 for local trainer Anneliese Thompson, but would much prefer to be in trap 1. She won’t enjoy the traps at Doncaster compared to her usual stomping ground at Nottingham and could well put herself in trouble early on in the race.

Jaxxhappymoments has recently won twice over 750m at Romford and could well lead the race early on. Brut Blanc is a total unknown, he has never run in England before and has never run further than 549m at Shelbourne Park. Goldies Hotspur bumper into the eventual winner of the Kent St Leger in the semi finals and may have more to prove. Rockmount Ozzy always seems to get into trouble and may not be quite good enough here.

Heat 5

The reigning and defending champion Roxholme Poppy is the star of this heat , drawn in her favourite trap 6 for local trainer Hayley Keightley. She may well get an easy lead and there is not much in this race than can pick her up. Pond Adonis runs well over 6 bends and could well qualify. Bumblebee Bullet may well want a longer trip, she won the TV Trophy at Romford over 925m but has yet to prove herself over this sort of trip.

Heat 6

Another competitive heat where Antigua Fire will be the favourite having won the Kent St Leger only last week. The long run to the bend at Doncaster will suit the Mark Wallis trained dog, but Causeway Sergie wont be far away. He is a lightly raced dog who had a couple of good runs at Sheffield over 660m before stepping up to 925m where he reached the TV Trophy final at Romford. This step back down to 661m should suit the unexposed 2 year old. Affleck Bolt was unlucky in the Kent St Leger semi-final and will be in the frame for qualification here.