Excitement building ahead of Select Stakes

Excitement is building ahead of this month’s Betfred Select Stakes over 500 meters at Nottingham with nine confirmed greyhounds having now been confirmed ahead of the July 15 race. The race is a stand-out meeting in the calendar, and it’s not just Betfair fans who will be looking to make some money from the race with £7,500 awarded to the winner, £2,000 for second and £750 for others.

Last year’s Steel City Cup winner, Pay Freeze, has been a notable addition to the line-up before the deadline, as is that of All England Cup champions Calzaghe Davy. Top local talent will be represented by Bromwich Tom and Sidaz Jonathan, although it’ll be tough for either of the Notts-based greyhounds being in real contention in a field packed with champions.

In one of the strongest fields in the race’s history, early favourites include Derby champion and runner-up Salad Dodger and Droopys Ward, Three Steps victor Ballymac Eske, Kent Derby winner Exocet and Laurels champion Mileheight Alba. One dog not starting will be Take The Crown, however, with the Pat Rosney-trained pup forced to skip the meet due to a scheduling clash.

"It's unfortunate and hopefully can be sorted better next year, but the Produce, Select and Sussex Cup at Hove are all events Take The Crown would be considered for in a normal year, but they're all on at the same time - so we've got to make a choice," Rosney said.

With the Select now off his racing calendar, Take The Crown's focus will be on Swindon with the 68th British Bred Two Year Old Produce Stakes getting underway on Friday July 11. The youngster has been one of Rosney’s stand out performers in 2014 and the British-bred greyhound will be one to watch during the rest of the season.