JONATHAN HOBBS: Crayford once again starts bright and breezy with a host of open races on Saturday morning including the heats of the Ladbrokes Gold Collar, the former Catford event.


Staged over 540m, ante-post favourite is Warzone Tom after winning heat and final of a warm-up event for Liz McNair in the past fortnight – giving the track record for the six bends at the Kent venue a shake in the process.

The Gold Collar heats are supported by an intriguing Ladbrokes.com Long Dual Distance Trophy Final over 874m after some cracking action in the heats over 714m.

Mention here should be made of Micks Little Gem who is looking to register a first victory after making a superb return to the track having whelped a litter of pups in June. She ran well for a long way in last week’s heats and must be respected.

All the action is on SportyStuff TV/RPGTV.

Let’s have a look at the pick of the action.

Crayford

10.37: Heat one of the Gold Collar where Ballymac Honest catches the eye for Mark Wallis. She’s a bitch with a good strike-rate and could lead up here and, with some decent wins at Romford and Henlow recently off the front, could be tough to reel in.

Play: Ballymac Honest

11.09: It’s difficult to look beyond Liz McNair’s Warzone Tom after some sparkling form here recently. Back-to-back wins over C&D catch the eye, although another slick start is required to clear Ballynabee Lucky and the improving Aayamza Lexie.

Play: Warzone Tom

11.24: The first of the morning’s finals is the Ladbrokes.com Dual Distance Hurdle Trophy Final where Toughest Test might get away. Jim Reynolds’ cracking veteran could hold a decent lead over this longer trip and might escape the pack as the race unfolds.

Play: Toughest Test

11.39 Back to the Gold Collar heats now and the John Mullins-trained pair of Gymstar Elusive could turn a first-bend lead into a winning one. He’s running well now and ran second in the recent Champion Stakes at Romford. A trap-to-liner here?

Play: Gymstar Elusive

12.09: Crossfield Kayla gives the locals a big chance in this heat four of the Gold Collar. The Dave Lee-trained runner is a bitch-in-form with recent wins over both six and eight bends – and this return to the shorter trip might not halt her progress as drawn.

Play: Crossfield Kayla

12.24: Alaskan Dawn gets the vote in this 874m decider. Heather Dimmock’s dog won well over the shorter trip last week and has strong leadability claims as drawn inside and might always be dominating – and has proved he stays well enough given a September C&D win.

Play: Alaskan Dawn

12.39: The last of the Crayford opens could see another Mullins-trained runner shine in the shape of Russian Blake. He ran a solid enough sprint trial at Towcester but should handle Crayford well enough given some cracking front-running efforts at Romford.

Play: Russian Blake

Good luck all.

@Hobbsy67