Monmore Green trainer Pat Doocey’s eyeing a double delight
Monmore Green trainer Pat Doocey is delighted with the form of two of his dogs as they each go for glory in Open finals tonight.
Doocey, whose kennels are in Walsall, has both Longacres Storm and Longacres Queen running in Category Three finals at the Wolverhampton track this evening.
Storm and Queen are competing in the Ladbrokes.com Dual Distance and Ladbrokes.com 480 Bitches finals respectively, having both won their heats with impressive displays last weekend.
Storm caught the eye over the 264m sprint trip and now faces tough competition from visiting trainer Angela Harrison (Newcastle), who has both Narcos The Great and March On Larry in the 480m showpiece.
Queen, meanwhile, perhaps has the better chance of emerging victorious from a strong field including Richie Taberner’s Crossfield Marta and Greyhound Board of Great Britain champion trainer Mark Wallis’ Newinn Touch.
“It would be good if either of them could win. I’m very pleased with the way they both ran and, hopefully, if they trap well again, they’ll give another good account of themselves,” said Doocey.
“Queen, in particular, I was very pleased with the way she ran. She was very quick out of the traps and is coming back to the form she’s shown before.
“Storm ran pretty well, too, so we’re very pleased with them. It’s anybody’s game tonight. Storm will have to run to his very best to win that one.
“Queen is capable of winning her final, although she’s had a bad draw in Trap Six.
“If she’s lucky enough to lead going into the first bend, who knows what can happen? You always need a bit of luck, but they’re running well. I’m pleased with them.”
The encouraging form of Storm and Queen follows that of Longacres Nutty, who prevailed in the Ladbrokes.com 630 Maiden at Monmore last weekend.
She has now been entered into the prestigious English Greyhound Derby, which begins at Towcester this coming Thursday and will see a whopping £175,000 awarded to the winner.
“We’ve entered Nutty into the Derby, so it’d be nice if she could win a qualifier or perhaps a couple of heats in that,” added Doocey.
“We have some nice dogs at the minute, and we just need a bit of luck with them.”
