blonde poker forum

The first round has just been concluded and i'm none the wiser.

I used to be really into the open scene but lost interest when they closed down catford(not the most reputable and prestigious open race track but i liked it).

poker has filled up a lot of my time aportioned for gambling exploits and ive missed out on the whole scene for the last couple of years so i need the discerning opinions of any blondite greyhound enthusiasts.

ive just seen that fear me and westmead hawk have been drawn in the same 2nd round heat, bit of a nightmare for the trainers.

I backed westmead in the final of the scottish dearby and was amazed with its trackcraft and determination, but wimbledon is a lot trappier than shelbourne and if hes to retain hes title he'll be doing it the hard way.

I always found that an accurate barometer for a greyhound derby finalists were the sectionals to half way in the early rounds but i've yet to consult the post for these as of yet but i'd expect fear me to be up amongst the top 3.

that being said i'm unable to formulate a credible opinion about anything other than the top two in the market, so if you'd please, who'd you like?

In my experience with greyhounds if it can go wrong it will.

I tend not to speculate too much in the ante-post market, instead I like tow ait till the quarter final stage and then look through the times both sectional and finnishing times and pick from there on in.

Again what I tend to do is have smaller wagers on each race in the lead up to the final and try and make enough from that so that whatever I lump on in the final itself is covered if the worse comes to the worse.

One thing I would stick my house on is the winner coming from Charlie Lister or Nick Sava - both seem to prepare their dogs for the derby.

I saw westmead was tips on for the derby in the betting shop today but have still yet to catch any of the heats.

Anyone see how fear me went out?

It got drawn in the same heat as da hawk twice in a row and never got a run last time.

Westmead Hawk looks nailed on if there is such a thing, even better than last year IMO.

LOL i saw that it was drawn against westmead in the 2nd round and saw that they were still both in the overall betting(flip flopped) with weastmead being jolly

It happend again?

Nightmare fore the trainers.

If its stronger than last year its all over, shame they couldnt have met up in the final.

do you know if fear me lead clear and was picked up by weastmead in either of thier heats?

I'm pretty sure that Fear Me was a length or two up at the final bend in that 2nd round clash.

WH picked it up easily and won by a couple of lengths, but I don't think FM pinged out, led from 2nd bend though..

In the quarter final FM seemed to miss the kick and was never in the first three as I recall.

The semis are live on Sky tonight.

You can find all the past results on www.thedogs.co.uk

There where a couple of suprises in the quarters, I had a mixed night I was on the first winner from Brian Clemstons kennel from box 4 looked very good and done the fastest time this year, also he seems to have hit a rich vein of form at a few other tracks as well with winners left right and centre over the past few days.

The Hawk was awesome, just awesome.  He's such a crafty dog, and you know he's going to be propping up the rear at first bend but he just sems to find two extra geres as other dogs are slowing down coming off the last bend.  I would really love to see him go further in distance.

Anyone know anything thats likely to be running at Reading dogs tonight?  It's a long shot to ask as it's like the conference of dog racing I believe but I'm off so thought I'd ask yous in the know :)

God only knows how Westmead Hawk won it's semi-final, it must have been 100/1 in running.

I've never seen a finisher like it, I thought Moral Standards was good but da hawk is different class.

Amazing, truly amazing finishing speed and trackcraft.

UNREAL!!!!! not over the 480, just unreal.

must have been 10 lenghs down on the back straight, still 5 down on the run in.

amazing dog, never seen anything like that over 480 at this level.

these are the best dogs in the country and he runs em down for fun.

its almost as though he hangs back in an attempt to miss the trouble and shows an unreal sense of trackcraft.

Do you think he knows where the line is :D

I'm gutted I fell asleep on the couch before the race and never managed to get a bet on.  Having already said Iw as counting on this as the get out of jail free card on an earlier thread I thought I'd hang of till nearer the off to get the best price as all they talke baout on Sky early doors was laying this good thing.

From the soudns of it Hawk was tremendous again.

How did Brian Clemestons charges get on?  He seems to have hit a rich vein of form.

I only saw the 2 semis mate.

you couldve got 10/11 about westmead on the night!

There was plenty available on Betfair at slightly better than even money just before the off.

And if you had wanted to bet in running you might have got 100/1...........

I know mate early doors they where banging on about 4/7 being too short and that itw as going to be laid, I had every confidence in the Hawk, having posted my nap on another thread on saturday for the GG's I offered an opinion that the Hawk was the ebst bet of the day and alsmost meant you where buying money. 

I thought I'd wait till just before the off and get on for a few ££  but as above I fell asleep on the couch after the 3rd race I reckon. 

the bookmakers will take it on again in the final because of the way it runs.

    Just been having another look at the form as we will be making our annual pilgramige from Newcastle to Plough Lane this weekend. Westmead Hawk is the fastest dog up the back straight to the finish line I have seen in my life.
    Looking at the form I think Trap 2 Mineola Farloe will lead up and will be clear at the start of the home straight with Trap 5 Amarillo Slim lying second on the outside. Westmead Hawk should get a clear run into the first bend as Westmead Joe on his inside is a shocking starter and the two on his outside are wide runners and should be a length or so ahead of him at that stage anyway.
   He should have a gap in the middle between the railers and middle to wide runners opening up at the start of the back straight and use his track craft to bolt through, pegging back T2 and T5 on the third bend and barring major trouble hit the lead into the run in to power home.
  Well thats the theory anyway  :D

In other words back Westmead Hawk "in running" if I read you correctly.

he reads it to go round closer than usual does'nt?

If so surley it will only shorten

I cannot imagine the hawk shortening in running unless it leads which imo is a very long shot.

how can it lenghthen significantly in running when the starting price accounts for his style of running.

if he had early he'd be unbackable in every race he run, he'd be simply unbeatable.

if he comes out of the second bend in third with a clear he'll be 8/9s on!!

Have you ever looked at the market in running on Betfair in any of Westmead Hawk's races ?

If you had you would know what I am talking about. It's like a knee-jerk reaction and it happens every time.

The market invariable corrects itself and there is only a very tiny "window" but it almost always occurs.

  Just noticed in my first post, I made an error " Mineola Farloe will lead up and will be clear at the start of the home straight" this should read Back straight.

 I am not saying he will be definitely third coming out of the second bend, but he is likely to avoid any trouble going around the first 2 bends due to the nature of his opponents running styles. Trap 1 is a railer and will hug the inside like glue, Trap 2 runs rails to middle and should be past Trap 1 by the bend, Trap 3 is a terrible starter and even the Hawk should be ahead of him by the bend, trap 5 is a Middle to wide runner and trap 6 is a wide runner. This should leave ample room for a dog with the Hawks track craft to get through into an good position coming off the second bend. Trap 3 should be behind him and if T1 & T6 are marginally ahead of him he will have a clear run through them as T1 will be tight on the inside rail and T6 will be on the outside. He has already beaten Traps 2 and 5 when they have had clear runs and he has been badly hampered.
   Traps 2 and 5 should be in the lead up that back straight, but again by their running styles there should be room through the middle for the Hawk to get through to the front unscathed. If, as expected, Westmead Hawk gets a clear run, I cannot see anything in the race being within 5 lengths of him.
    I am not familiar with the in running market on Betfair, but I don't invisage any trouble in the first couple of bends and he won't be slowest in the run up so he should get a lot better looking start than in past races. Not sure how this will affect the price though, I think this race couldn't be laid out better for him. I don't like backing odds on shots as a rule, but having assessed the chances of the others I am left with no choice.
    T1 &T6 are in my opinion just too slow and won't win without a lot of trouble.
    T2 & T5 have already been beaten by the Hawk with them getting clear runs and WH being hampered.
    T3 is superb in the latter stages of the race, but I just can't see any dog catching W Hawk when giving him a lead which will happen on all but his very fastest start.
    The way the race is made up I see the only potential spots for real trouble are if T1 breaks at his very fastest and goes into the 1st bend upsides T2 and bumping him across into the path of W Hawk, even with this happening I think WH can still catch T5 on the run in.
    Good luck!
   

I havnt looked on betfair during one of his races but if that is the case you've got to be on in running hav'nt you?

WH is available at just about 10/11 on BF right now.

#

what price do you think it will touch in running?

I knew it would be around the same price, the bookmakers want to keep taking it on, they fancy its got to hit trouble sooner or later

It all depends how the race goes, you could always stick in £x @ 3/1 as soon as the lids go up.

You may get matched, but it's so fast and there is a slight delay....

Well this is how i see it.

I cant not have a bet in the final and will be having involvement on the whole card.

I just cant back westmead, not at that price.

the way it has to do it is just difficult and the money i'd have to have on is not a value bet.

Will it win? probably but i wont be getting any of it.

Then how can i oppose the dog, and with who.

I think as an interest i'll back the 5 to ping and hold on.

for those of you that back it be sure to check if it smiles as it gets its  photo taken
when crossing the line ;)

My plan of action for this is to back the Hawk at 10/11 for £100, I aim to lay T1 on the exchanges for a few quid nothing to big. 

And I'll have my RFC as I have on every dog race I back I am going for 3 4 6 (3 x £15 RFC)

I hope this pays off, if it doesn't I'll have to get vreative with the boxing in the wee small hours.

Well read   :)up

no 10/11 about was there? with the bookies i mean.

were you on, on the exchanges?

Was slightly bigger than 10/11 on the exchanges about half an hour before the off

I got a number of different bets on Betfair I got on for £30 @ 11/10, £25 @1/2  £40 @ 4/7 £30 @ 8/11

I got my original post wrong I thought Farloe was T 1 so I amde a few bob out of laying T 2 instead.

Most dissapointed in my forecast though, I thought for a second that Joe was going to get there but it was never to be, I should have put in one of the other 2 at shorter odds but I was hoping for a result by having T6 in there.

Still nice action on the whole, n1

Another awsome performance from The Hawk! In the end i went in big on The Hawk (8/11 was available at the track) and also backed Mineola Farloe without Westmead Hawk (11/4 with Billy Hills) so managed to secure a doouble result. You have to feel sorry for Mineola Farloe, he did everything right, posted a fast enough time to win almost every Derby ran at Wimbledon, but just found one very special dog to beat him.
   Cheers,
          Steve

Ive been thinking about how good westmead really is in comparisson to the wimbledon dogs of my time.

The first(and most obvious) dog that springs to mind is the multi derby winner rapid ranger.

That dog never impressed me with its times and i think on 2 occassions when it won the derby its time was matched or betterd by the dogs in the plate.

Deerfield sunset was a quality little dog(bitch i think) but fell foul to the derby raw on a couple of occassions.

IMO that never matterd because the dog it had to beat was an absolute flyer, chart king.

I think in a match race westmead wouldve gunned down rapid ranger with fluent ease, but against the awsome chart king, i dont think it wouldve got within a lengh of it!

Bolt

Did you ever see Some Picture run this dog was a machine, had pace all around the wimbledon 480, would be an interesting match up against Hawk.

 As good a dog as Westmead Hawk is, I think a match up versus Some Picture (were it possible)  would be a none event. Some Picture was an awesome animal and without the prospect of any trouble on the first bend would simply be out and gone. There is no way I could see Westmead Hawk catching him. Some Picture recorded a winning time of 28.23, over 2 lengths faster than The Hawks best ever time at Plough Lane. I think only one dog, Greenane Squire, has ever ran faster around the 480 trip at Wimbledon.

    Westmead Hawk is a very fast dog, but his style of running makes him seem even faster than he is. As you say, Some Picture had tremendous pace all the way around the trip and you have to feel that W Hawk would give him too much of a start to manage to peg him back at the end.

    IMO Bolt is being a little hard on Rapid Ranger, he was a hell of a dog, don't forget in the Plate you often have an exceptionally fast dog ,who found trouble in the heats and failed to reach the final, surrounded by slower animals in the plate. This produces very fast times if the dogs are early paced as they tend to be out and on the bunny getting a solo. Rapid Ranger's winning times compare favourably with most previous winners, with only Some Picture and Westmead Hawk being a lot faster. He won both years in a time of 28.71 exactly 1/2 a length inbetween Chart King (28.67) and Tom's the Best (28.75) who were both in my opinion very fast dogs and just a length and a half slower than Moral Standards.

i never saw some picture run so i cant make any comparison.

there was a  dog called rio ricado and i think it got knocked out of the derby in te semis twice, this dog beat rapid ranger in other competitions on a couple of ocassions and was one of the dogs that posted a faster time than rapid when winning the plate but knowone remembers him.

My favorite dog of all time is a dog called pure patches, the first open race winner i ever backed