All eyes will be on Oxford Stadium at 8.43pm this evening when six greyhounds contest the Category One WKH Development Services Diamond Stakes over the marathon 847m trip.
The winner will scoop a cool £10,000, with second place bagging £1,000 and all other runners earning £500 for connections.
Two greyhounds stand out in the formbook and – incredibly – they are both littermates out of Volcano by Droopys Jet. They are Matt Dartnell’s Space Jet and the Mark Wallis trained Antigua Lava.
Bet365 Challenge Cup finalist Wota Swell Party also lines up while Crayford-based Tom Levers prepares two runners in Patsys Me Daddy and Beach Babe. Swindon raider Mohican Tara completes the final.
WKH Development Services Diamond Stakes – Grand Final, 8.43pm.
Trap One – Wota Swell Party, Trap Two – Antigua Lava, Trap Three – Space Jet, Trap Four – Patsys Me Daddy, Trap Five – Mohican Tara, Trap Six – Beach Babe.
The market will no doubt be led by Space Jet, winner of the 2021 St Leger and TV Trophy plus the defending Dorando Marathon champion.
She went off 1/10f in her qualifying heat last week and duly obliged when coming from behind to beat Mohican Tara by six-and-a-half lengths with fellow finalist Beach Babe a further nine lengths behind.
Matt Dartnell’s three-year-old bitch never likes to win the easy way, though, and punters should expect her to give plenty to her rivals in the opening lap at least. She’s unbeaten at Oxford in three runs and sets a high standard.
The other hot contender is Antigua Lava for legendary trainer Mark Wallis. She also holds a strong record in OX4, winning one of her two starts to date.
Her defeat was an agonising short head second to, you guessed it, Space Jet who got up in the final strides to claim an Open contest on December 23 when going off 2/13f. Antigua Lava’s winning time in our Heat One qualifier last week was only 0.06 seconds off the pace of Space Jet, so expect the betting to be far more open this time.
It’s very likely both greyhounds will come from off the pace and lay down their challenge in the final 400m. With that in mind, the winner is likely to be the one that avoids traffic most.
It is hard to make a case for our four other worthy finalists, who will be required to find at least half-a-second on the clock to make the frame.
Kevin Hutton’s Wota Swell Party is proven at this level, though, having qualified for our recent bet365 Challenge Cup final in December. Mohican Tara is an Open Race winner over our 650m trip too.
Beach Babe is an Open Race winner over 874m at Crayford while kennelmate Patsys Me Daddy is the greyhound with the most to find on paper.
Our first race tonight begins at 6.17pm with two BGBF British Bred Puppy Cup semi finals due off at 7.24pm and 8.03pm too. Tickets can be purchased online via our website for £9 or racegoers can pay on the day for £12.
