Nottingham greyhound racing is televised by Sky tonight and Charlie Lister has several lively chances this evening
Unsurprisingly for a £7,500 one-off contest the Select Stakes (21:45) looks highly competitive with Taylors Sky, unraced since his incredible track-record Derby success back in June, strictly the one to beat if reproducing his Wimbledon form.
However, the draw has been far from kind to Lister's number one charge placing him in trap four, outside kennel mate and one-time leading Derby hope Boher Paddy. With both blessed with similar early speed judged on recent sprint trials at the track it's hard to be confident that 'Sky' can clear his rival. Indeed given 'Paddy's' faster time in subsequent comparable spins over the CD, he, if anything, rates a more likely winner.
Both are obviously candidates of the highest calibre, and with Taylors Sky having only raced ten times to date he frighteningly remains open to further improvement, while Boher Paddy's record of 11 wins from his 14 races will make him a threat in any company. But with the possibility of them taking each other's ground the sensible bet must be to look elsewhere.
Step forward then sole wide seed Blonde Snapper, who has returned from a lengthy absence in arguably the best form of his career after claiming Sunderland's valuable Classic last month as part of a sequence of four wins from four since his comeback.
Seriously under-estimated on that occasion by this column, it's clear that Mark Wallis has nursed him to his very best, and with a perfect draw outside middle moving Mark My Words he looks primed to enjoy a clear run to success on the outside. A weekend sprint trial - his first look at Colwick Park - did little to dampen the enthusiasm and he rates a bet at around 4.5.
The supporting Select Stayers (21:25) looks equally as competitive, and while Blonde Fletch is understandably favourite given his plethora of big races wins this season, he was turned over at Hove last week behind tonight's rival Blue Bee, herself beaten in a minor Open at the same track on Sunday.
Crash Bandit might be the 'new kid on the block' judged on his beating of high class Bower Hawk - also in this race - in another Hove contest last week, but Frank Taylor's runner has not previously been around Nottingham.
Therefore, with value very much in mind I'm siding with long shot Conkon, who while probably not the class of most of his rivals can boast a tremendous Nottingham record and may just surprise a few people at around 15.0.
On a tricky card elsewhere, Courtcraft Mac looks massively over-priced in the 20:50, provided you can ignore a below par run over the 480m CD from last week. Prior to that Pat Rosney's runner had showed much improved form and granted an early lead could easily outrun his odds.
Bush Whitney disappointed when napped at Hove last time, but might be worth staying loyal to in the Puppy Race (20:15) - even though admittedly she's untried at the track - in a race where Sunderland Puppy competition winner Skywalker Teddy will help to make the market.
University Man offers more value and has a far better CD record than Bringthemhome in the Stayers' Race at 20:00, but while Jimmy Lollie (20:35) will be expected to win the sprint, Scoring Lar, unbeaten in four over the 305m trip, offers some excellent value in opposition.
