Janssens excited by Romeo Empire

Janssens excited by Romeo Empire

Patrick Janssens is looking forward to a tilt at the Premier Greyhound Racing Regency with Romeo Empire.

A February 2023 son of Romeo Magico and Fabulous Bella, he made an impressive six-bend debut when scoring over 712m at Towcester on Derby final night, before winning two from two at Hove over 695m.

He runs again in a Regency Trial Stakes at Hove on Saturday night before a planned attempt at the main event the following weekend.

“He’s doing really well over six bends so far,” said Janssens.

“He’s showing his four-bend speed to go clear and the times are there compared to others as well.

“The plan is to go straight for the Regency after this weekend.”

Another Janssens inmate who has won both starts at Hove is Romeo Tomcat, who went unbeaten through a two-round dual distance event.

The June 2023 whelp landed the Pricedup.Bet Derby Plate at Towcester before that and his trainer puts the improved form down to the step up to a testing four bends.

He seems to be in the form of his career to date and lines up in a Coral Sussex Cup Trial Stakes over 515m this Saturday.

Janssens continued: “He’s in great form and I thought it was a good final last week.

“He broke very poorly because going from 500m to 515m wasn’t ideal, but they had no 515m contests the week before. I just want to get him used to track and the traps because he’s not been out of those traps much.

“He ran brilliant last week. I always thought the world of him but when he was a puppy, we went for the puppy competitions at Monmore and Sheffield. There is nothing wrong with those tracks but they are not his tracks.

“He was running against 400m and 480m dogs but there was a lot of money at stake in prestigious races, so we gave them a try and it didn’t work out. 

"He’s an out-and-out 500m dog as you can see now. You look at his form at Towcester and Hove and it’s excellent. He’s much more comfortable around bigger tracks.”

His kennelmate Slick Sentinel was a beaten 1/2 favourite when finding trouble in the same decider last week but his handler reports all to be well with him and he runs again this Saturday.

“He came out of it well, it’s just how the race worked out, " Janssens added. 

"We had two in the race and I couldn’t understand why they made Slick Sentinel 1/2 and Romeo Tomcat 9/4, because there is not much between those dogs. Whoever gets first run out of those two, they will beat each other.

“He (Slick Sentinel) is very good but he is better when he dominates. Hopefully he can do so in the race this weekend. On his best break, he should lead them.”