Strike It Skye flies around Towcester in a trial
There was a flying trial from Strike It Skye on Sunday afternoon at Towcester, dipping under the current track record with a 28.33 effort.
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Track record time in a Towcester trial
Strike It Skye clocked the fastest ever time for Towcester's 500m trip with a sparking trial at the home of the Star Sports & Orchestrate Ltd. English Derby yesterday.
In leading home kennelmate Vhagar by four and a quarter lengths, the January 2024 whelp, last seen at Newcastle in December on Premier Greyhound Racing All England Cup Final night when winning the Jimmy Wright Future Stars Puppy Trophy Final, Mark Wallis's bitch posted a best-ever 28.33sec (+20) for the one-lap trip at the Northamptonshire venue.
The time was well inside Lennies Desire's 28.39sec track record set during last year's Derby.
Danny Rayment, Towcester's racing manager, said: "It was a sparkling run clearly - and we're talking a top-class bitch here. However, with the new traps now in place and times generally having definitely quickened up, that time will certainly be bettered in the coming weeks with more top-class dogs showing what they can do from these boxes.
"However, it underlines what a strong hand Mark (Wallis) has ahead of the Derby. He introduced his latest recruit Forgottotellya at yesterday's meeting, flying round in 28.61sec in his very first race in the UK in a 500m maiden and showed exceptional early pace.
"Also showing fantastic speed was Kevin Boon's Bockos Buster who won his Derby trial stakes impressively following on from some rapid runs at Romford of late."
Towcester, meanwhile, had a busy weekend in general having reintroduced Saturdays to their weekly schedule.
"We're back on Saturdays permanently as part of the PGR schedule," added Rayment. "We will race every Saturday afternoon until evenings kick in for the start of the Derby."
There was further news from the track regarding the new distance. Rayment continued, "The 460m traps are now ready to go having been surveyed and ratified by the GBGB so we'll start having trials from them imminently."
