At this morning’s trials Woody (Fleetwood Rocker/Mac) clocked a very respectable 29.55. He raced with current top clocker Men of Hope in what turned out to be a rather messy event.  Seemingly, contact was made between the two protagonists on two different occasions and Woody didn’t take the penultimate flight too well. With those incidents in mind it’s worth considering that his time could have been some .10 -.15 spots faster.

Sure to be better for this experience, and holding his own today against the leading Champion Hurdle contender in Men of Hope, Woody is shaping into a very decent prospect.

It’s fair to say since his arrival from Ireland, Norah has taken her time with Woody giving him plenty of opportunity to fill out and recover from his winter’s exertions.  There’s still more to work on – after all he’s only had three trials and has improved significantly each time. If Wednesday’s performance is anything to go by our patience is paying off.

Other Open Race Kennel News

Norah has a trio of entries on Oxford’s Thursday (26th) card; Rally Town is marginal favourite and Racing Post pick in the 8.50pm,  Standard Open, Droopys Cadel lines up in the Sprint at 9.05pm  and Zodiac Zeus takes his chance in the later division of the Standard at 950pm.

Recent arrival, and unraced as yet, French Blue, gets into the valuable Tony Morris Memorial at Wimbledon on Friday. The race, an Invitation event, is one of four heats leading, eventually, to the final live on Sky.

On the same night, veteran, Pigalle Star returns to her happy hunting ground, needing to overcome a poor draw in the Bitches’ Open at Romford at 936pm.

Last but not least, Cloheena Cash is mixing it with some of the best in the country, contesting his heat, 9.55pm,  in the third round of the Derby at Wimbledon on Saturday.

This is perhaps the most exciting week to date for norah mac club and associated kennel owners with plenty of action at the highest level.  As always though the main thing is that they all come home safe and sound.