Arena Racing Company Northern Puppy Derby gets 31 entered
The entries have been made for the Arena Racing Company Northern Puppy Derby with the quality of the race there despite being five short in quantity.
Declarations in for the Northern Puppy Derby
Newcastle received 31 entries for the Arena Racing Company Northern Puppy Derby - five short of the requisite figure.
However, the overall quality has pleased Ian Walton, the Byker track’s general manager, who is also delighted to see several runners representing southern-based handlers ready to make the trip to the north east for the famous event, won last year by Ireland’s Droopys Deploy, then trained by Robert Gleeson.
“It would have been nice to see Irish interest again,” said Walton,“but there is real quality across the board - if not quantity. We were five short of the magic number of 36 so five of the heats on Thursday will have vacant traps, but fair play to the likes of Maxine Locke, Michelle Brown, Paul Young and Nathan Hunt for making the journey.
“Maxine had three finalists last year so her team is definitely to be respected and I’m sure our trainers are looking to take all the southerners on!
“But it does look wide open. There’s real depth to the entry and I’m just really pleased with the support from owners and trainers throughout the UK."
*The £12,500 Arena Racing Company Northern Puppy Derby starts over 480m on Thursday, with the semi-finals a week later and the Category One final on Thursday, February 19.
