Tonights nap is White SoKs Roks 9-40 Crayford
Wins at 3/1
Now 6/1 to win Golden Jacket
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WHITE SOKS ROKS looked an incredibly smart recruit for Daniel Riordan on Saturday night when landing his opening round heat in the Ladbrokes Golden Jacket at Crayford.The Irish import, who has been temporarily placed up in Riordan's kennels by handler Declan Byrne for a tilt at the £15,000 Category One crown, set tongues wagging at the Kent track maintaining an impressive gallop leading trap-to-line.
Having shown an early burst of pace to hit the front, it was remarkable the way in which the February 10 black piled on the pressure and put his rivals to the sword, before gamely holding off the strong Lottes Girl on the run-in.
Beautifully drawn in Saturday morning's live-on-SIS semi-final, this son of Royal Impact looks primed for yet another exhibition of front-running and, with another look at the track under his belt, he can only improve.
Being clad in stripes looks essential with the early pace inside him coming from the other two wide runners, Oneco Cool and Lode Vanquish, and should swing things in his favour at the first turn.
Both rivals will also be eager to hit the front early but, judging on their race-lines in last week's heats, they could well come together and pave the way for a solo run for the selection on the outside.
Carrying some extremely strong Irish form, Byrne's charge should come on a bundle for his first competitive start since mid-December and he is fully expected to make up the time he needs to find on the stopwatch with his rivals.
He certainly looks a lively contender for the whole competition and not just this qualifier.
The main danger on Saturday appears to be Droopys Xavier, who is another first-round winner and looks likely to get the run of the race on the inside flanked by slow starters.
Claude Gardiner's in-form Hove raider set an impressive halfway split of 23.41secs last week, but failing to break 46 seconds on calculated time leaves a major question mark over his stamina.
With winning form both from the front and coming from off the pace, the selection should have the legs of the pacey railer and show his superior stamina at the business end of the race.
Lottes Girl lines up in opposition once again but is highly unlikely to get the smooth passage she did on Saturday and will probably have too much on her plate after the opening couple of turns.
Connections of White Soks Roks are clearly confident having sent the dog over for a crack at this competition.
And they will certainly not be the only ones disappointed if their boy doesn't book his place in next week's final with a win because he carries this week's nap.
This looks an opportunity for punters to give bookies both barrels.
Ding Hero and Boherna Bridge were both smart frontrunning winners in Saturday's heats but have been drawn together on the inside in this week's second semi-final.
They could well ruin each other's chances when vying for the same early racing room.
The selection is Darren Whitton's PAULINES PRIDE who was an eye-catching runner-up in behind Droopys Xavier.
Having walked out of the boxes, he left himself a mountain to climb just to qualify - but he finished with a rattle.
Aiding his cause that night was the horrendously drawn Airforce Harlem, who again finds himself stranded out too far away from the rails in trap five.
Ricky Holloway's black carries a middle seeding but his desire to get to the rails is unquestionable given the several steps to the left he took straight from the boxes on Saturday.
With the same race line likely, the track should open up nicely for the selection who has the pace to hit the front and draw away.
Comfortably the quickest on the clock with a 45.62secs trial stakes win last month, this sole wide seed looks to have this race at his mercy and is a close next best bet behind White Soks Roks.
The ante-post favourite BUBBLY SWALLOW now trades as short as 5-2 for the overall competition and looks to have the third of Saturday's semi-finals served up on a plate.
Posting the second fastest time of the night in qualifying was unsurprising, with Nick Savva's talented bitch no stranger to Crayford having missed out on last year's final by the narrowest of margins and looks set to go one step further this year.
Having barely seen a rival in her previous three routs, this looks a fine opportunity for her to blow away her rivals from the off once again with very little to challenge her early on.
Ballymac Swift and Eden Rumble surround her in traps one and three, but both are pedestrian to the opening turn and it's almost impossible to see her being led up. Freedom Cache is a talented greyhound and showed he retains all his ability in qualifying for new trainer Kelly Findlay.
With a clear run he could well be a match for any dog in this competition, but his tendency to be slowly away and clumsy at the bends makes a smooth passage frustratingly difficult for him. He'll do well to qualify for next Saturday's final.
selections tuesday Sheffield: 7.43 Yah Muppet, 7.58 Boher Conway, 8.14 Deltic Tornado, 8.31 Rockview Sail.
thursday Hove: 8.34 Droopys Odell, 8.50 Lil Risky, 9.06 Ballymac Pen, 9.24 Droopys Franklin, 10.11 Bridge Ruth, 10.26 Caesars Rocket.
saturday Crayford: 11.23 White Soks Roks (NAP), 12.08 Paulines Pride (N.B.), 12.57 Bubbly Swallow.
Racing Post Greyhound TV Sky 212,Freesat 402
