Kranky Drake safely made it through to next week’s Puppy Classic at Nottingham when finishing 2nd in his semi-final on Monday evening.
Although he had no answer to a brilliant run by Romeo Alliance, he did improve his clock to 29.84 and is very much going the right way. It’s a very good final and the draw looks ok in 5 but he’ll need to be on his toes from the boxes. Jazzy George got no luck in running in his sprint open after being crowded on the run-up and the first bend. He returned in good shape though.

Untold Ariary moved to pastures new on Tuesday as she joins Glenn Foot. She’s a lovely youngster who was impressive on debut when breaking 27 at Oxford and we wish her well.

Friday proved a busy day with 3 tracks to cover but on the whole it turned out to be a good day. Signet Nayla posted 28.61 on her first look at Swindon as she gets ready for the upcoming Produce Stakes. She always takes a few looks to get used to a track so she should improve nicely as the competition progresses.

We had 9 dogs going through their paces before racing at Oxford and it proved another very pleasing session. The pups from Moments of Magic are looking very smart and they moved well in their final qualifying trial. Dog Dog reversed the form with Lively Lulu as he ran a good first bend to take the lead. He stayed on well to beat Lulu by just over 2 lengths in 27.04. Bonita Moon was a further 5 lengths back but showed a lot more than the previous week and does stay on well to the drop. They are only March 24 babies and do look a nice bunch. Venetian Mick looks a useful newcomer for Graham Freeman and he completed his trials with an all the way success in 26.68. He seems to be showing a lot more early pace than in Ireland and runs Oxford very well. Senahel Bingo (27.02) and Droopys Doris (27.31) got in each others way quite a bit during the trial but returned in good form. Deelish Crofty flew the boxes to post 14.97 on his return from injury when beating the very likeable January 24 puppy, Jazzy Belle (15.140). Ollie The Ox got a little lost around dogs for the first time but still improved his clock from 15.57 to 15.31.

Deelish Top Boy made it 2 wins from 3 in the UK as he led all the way in his A1. He won by 2 lengths in 26.76 and should continue to come forward.

The brilliant Magical Luka couldn’t have been anymore impressive on UK debut when leading all the way in the first heat of the 400m novice event to win by 6 1/2 lengths in 23.68. He’s a nice looking draw in the final next week and hopefully it proves a great preparation for the upcoming Puppy Cup. He’s certainly a very special puppy.

Antigua Kestrel did all he could in the Stayers Classic final at Monmore on Saturday when leading the Group One decider to the 5th bend after a fast break. The writing was on the wall from the first bend though as Mark’s brilliant two stayers turned right behind him. Hopefully the 6 bend racing will have served its purpose in sharpening him up and he’ll return to a four bend campaign now.

Things couldn’t have gone much better at Oxford on Saturday as we managed to win all 3 open races we were involved in. Coppice Ronnie absolutely loves the Cowley circuit and he followed up last week’s win with another all the way success. He beat kennel mate Mustang Ojay by 5 lengths in a fast 14.74.

The brilliant Start The Engine was beaten for just the 2nd time in his career as he was picked up on the run-in by kennel mate Dreamin Reggie in the top division of the standard 450m. He’d not raced since the end of July so just needed a spin but it was great to see Reggie run so well in a good time of 26.62.

Rioja Maxi made it 3 wins from her last 4 races as she led all the way in division 2 of the standard. It’s hard to keep finding the words to say how great this lady has been for the kennel and despite turning 4 years of age she seems to be as good as ever. She won by nearly 3 lengths in 26.61.

Givemethemoney ran well enough in the 500m standard open at Towcester on Sunday when finishing 3rd although he certainly looks a big of an enigma!
Baroness Velvet posted 29.69 on her first look at the track and ran it well enough. It’s difficult to give pups much of an education at the moment with no puppy or ladies races being held at Oxford. Most of these novices aren’t ready to take on the 450m standard open dogs which does make things difficult to find the right races. Unfortunately, Rebel Alaska didn’t get his intended sprint trial after problems with the hare.