Stan James Laurels preview: semi-final three
Three semi-finals on Thursday in Belle Vue will determine which greyhounds will participate in the Stan James Laurels Final. There were collisions galore in the first round, the most notable one being
a collision between Mill Pinpoint and Jordansoilutions that took them both out of the Laurels. Bucks Yahoo barely made it into the second round after a slight collision of his own.
Only the top two from each semi-final will advance. Most of the top racers are in the second semi-final, which should be as good a race as there is, but the third semi-final features some pretty good racers
itself.
Stan James Laurels 3rd semi-final
Spinkys Nod will race from the first trap. She finished second behind Ballymac Ace in the first round, and should be a threat to advance to the final. Before last week’s heat, she had won back-to-back
races, both by significant margins.
In the second trap is Jolly Poacher, who won his first round heat by five lengths over Sunoak Crystal. Poacher led the entire race, but the margin of victory is only that large because it was the heat
Bucks Yahoo had a collision in. Poacher’s history is not one that inspires confidence, but his victory last week can’t solely be credited to Yahoo’s fall.
Hello Dino looked good in the first round, taking the lead on the fourth bend from Target Brett to win. Dino has won six of his past eight races, and finished second in the two he didn’t win. He does tend
to get off to poor starts, which can hinder him as the competition gets better and better the deeper into the Laurels he gets. A poor start in this one, and Dino may miss the cut off. He’ll go from trap three.
In trap four is Elwick Chris, whose only two losses in his past nine races have come against Mill Pinpoint. With Pinpoint out of the way, Chris should find himself in the final. He was an 11-10 favourite
last week, and could see similar odds in the third semi-final. He is another slow starter, but he tends to recover quickly.
Fatboyz Romeo is the fourth heat winner to join this semi-final, he’ll go from trap five. Last week Romeo looked good beating Judicial Pause, but he is not a consistent winner. In April he fell in Peterborough,
and didn’t race again until mid-August. Since his return he has two victories and two second place finishes. It’s tough to pick him in this race over Chris and Poacher, but he will be there to take advantage of any mistakes made.
In the sixth trap is Target Brett. Last week Dino led from the first bend all the way to the fourth before losing the lead to Dino, who ended up beating Brett by 2¼ lengths. Both Dino and Brett were in
front because of a slight collision that forced 5-4 race favourite, Magna Buddy, back into third. Unless Brett has similar luck, he will not qualify for the final race.
Tags: