Strong-running Man edges out Syd in thrilling Hove Olympic clash

HOLLOW MAN edged out Newinn Syd in a season’s best head-to-head which kicked off the Coral Olympic at Hove on Saturday - on a night St Leger champion Droopys Clue roared back to winning form in the George Curtis & Ballyregan Bob Memorial.

Two major competitions at the Sussex venue saw a number of top-class performers on show, not least in heat one of the Olympic which saw Coral Champion Stakes winner Hollow Man take on Premier Greyhound Racing Eclipse hero Newinn Syd. It looked a cracker on paper - and did not disappoint.

Derek Knight’s strong-running local star Hollow Man trapped just in front and held Newinn Syd into the bend for a narrow lead, although Mark Wallis’s dog was never far away and kept up the pressure on his rival, launching a last-ditch challenge off the last bend before a half-length defeat in 30.24sec.

Fastest Olympic time of the night was clocked by Liz McNair’s Puppy Derby winner King Memphis who clocked 30.03sec in heat six, while other 515m heats were won by Dave Puddy’s 28-1 shocker Bluejig Jane (30.60sec), Memphis’s kennelmate Queen Leona (30.61sec) for the McNairs, June Harvey’s ex-Irish star Ower Mystery (30.29sec) and Belinda Green’s Brighton Belle heroine Betsys Bullet (30.70sec).

Droopys Clue set the standard in the supporting George Curtis and Ballyregan Bob Memorial as Seamus Cahill’s runner bounced back from a luckless run at Shelbourne’s Winter Racing Festival to lead at halfway on his way to a magnificent near-nine length win in 44.30sec - the fastest time of the night of the 740m heats.

Other George Curtis & Ballyregan Bob Memorial heats were won by Diane Henry’s in-form and strong Savana Heross (45.06sec), Jason Heath’s local champion Clongeel Ozzie (44.60sec) and Chris Fereday’s Monmore raider Millridge Tanic (45.08sec).