Rattlin can star in Puppy marathon
The competition was originally set out for 96 dogs but, after struggling to get entries, it had to be reduced to 48. That’s not a major issue, more a sign of the times, but the real puzzle came in the fact that a decision was made to still run the stake over five rounds.
Allowing for non-runners, 44 youngsters of varying degrees of promise started out with the hope of lifting the €15,000 winner’s prize but, after the completion of the first round, 36 still remained. In short, eight heats were run to knock eight dogs out.
And, with two confirmed non-runners for tonight’s second round and the possibility of more, there’s opportunity for at least two of the vanquished eight to return for another go.
The point is, I suppose, that there was no point to the first round. If virtually no-one got knocked out, what use was it?
Yeah, the more heats, the greater the purse and I understand the need to keep stakes of this quality to a certain level of prizemoney, but I really don’t see the need to drag these young pups back for a virtual re-run of the first round.
I’ve never been a fan of four qualifying from a heat in any competition - including the Derby - but when four qualify and the four fastest fifth-placed finishers, it’s just way too much.
Because we’re left with six heats tonight, four more will qualify from each race.
Would it not have been more prudent to leave the beginning of the competition until tonight and just run it as a conventional 48-dog stake?
Anyway, leaving the negative aside, the stake has attracted numerous stars in the making, and Rattlin Goldstar, Razldazl Will, Hanover Laddie and Cabra Noel rank highly amongst the runners most likely to be there at the bitter end.
Patrick Sheehy’s Rattlin Goldstar was one of those fastest fifth-placed finishers and, ironically, he could take full advantage by going all the way. For the second consecutive week, he’s got a tough heat to operate in but this time he looks ideally drawn and can take this en route to better things.
Razldazl Will showed the kind of pace that wins these competitions when he overcame plenty of trouble to finish second in his opening round heat. He has been handed a wide seed for the remainder of the stake and it’ll be interesting to see how he handles that. If it works in his favour, he could give Dolores Ruth a super end to a near-perfect season.
