NEWCASTLE stadium manager Ian Walton is looking forward to Thursday’s semi-finals of the Arena Racing Company Northern Flat after six high-quality and eventful heats of the 480m GBGB Category One annual at the Byker venue last week.

 

Walton said: “It was an eventful evening with some brilliant performances, especially from the locally trained runners who enjoyed a successful night.

 

“Brookside Richie showed his class to win and is a worthy favourite for outright honours and I know Jimmy Fenwick was delighted with the performance – remember it was Richie’s first race of the year.

 

“Swift Silly ran a stormer for Raymond Hale. She’s underrated but a few judges have backed her at 100-1 and her heat-winning effort was another impressive effort

 

“It was also lovely to see All England Cup runner-up Killieford Defoe qualify and I’d also like to mention Paul Rutherford’s Chasing Eddie who was running in A7 a few months ago but also qualified in his heat.

 

“As for ante-post favourite Coolavanny Shado, everything just went wrong for him but that’s racing and I’m sure he’ll go on to have a successful year.

 

“I’d also like to wish Kilara Scottie a speedy recovery. He was in the process of running a cracker for Alex Hopkins, who has done really well with this greyhound. Hopefully he can come back in the future.”

 

The 2023 renewal kicked off with Paisley Pearl upholding the Arena Racing Company All England Cup form as Neil Brown’s dog, third behind Mickys Barrett in the end-of-year showpiece, finished best to edge out Narcos The Best (Angela Harrison) by a short-head in 29.25sec (normal) for the 480m trip.

 

The runner-up’s kennel then struck in heat two as Maglass Sid was quickly away, posting a 4.55sec sectional on his way to leading the charge, albeit only a short-head separated him and runner-up Freedom Alibi (Tom Heilbron) by a short-head in 28.75sec (normal).

 

Brookside Richie (Jimmy Fenwick) set the standard on the night with a fastest-of-the-round 28.34sec in heat three – setting a quickest 4.53sec sectional as he raced away to a four-and-a-half lengths success over Freedom Epic (Tom Heilbron).

 

Garry Hamilton’s Tell Boy struck in heat four as a fast exit set up a first-bend lead and a three-and-a-half lengths win over Marinas Poniente (Colin Watson) in 28.86sec, while Swift Silly (Raymond Hale) also produced an eye-catching trap-to-line success in heat five as he crossed the line a length and a quarter clear of Chasing Eddie (Paul Rutherford) in 28.69sec (normal).

 

The sixth and final heat went to the Angela Harrison-trained Droopys Biggy who produced a powerful effort to lead home Killieford Defoe (Neil Black) by two lengths in 28.95sec (normal).

 

Trap draw for Thursday’s semi-finals: https://www.newcastle-greyhounds.co.uk/racing/results/

 

Results: https://www.gbgb.org.uk/meeting/?meetingId=395069&raceId=922381