Monmore will evaluate the response to the Ladbrokes Winter Derby and PGR Puppy Derby as Saturday lunchtime fixtures before determining whether to continue with that timeslot.
Racing Manager Tony Williamson said, “We decided to give it a go after looking back at the open race entries before Christmas, which weren’t very good. I think there was one outside trainer in November and two in December.
“I do realise that they were minor opens, and it is traditionally a bad time of year for opens ,but we wondered whether the mornings might work, as they have done at Monmore.”
Following feedback from some of the more southern and northern-based handlers, the track has agreed to stage the heats of each of the Cat One events as the last six races of the meeting.
This means that although the first kennelling is at 9.40 am, the competition entries don’t need to be kennelled until 11.20 am.
Several kennels have already indicated their plans to enter runners for the Winter Derby. Maxine Locke, Diane Henry, and Matt Dartnall were all due to trial potential runners today.
Among the trainers already booked in for next week are David Mullins, Seamus Cahill, and Patrick Jansssens.
While some tracks would be grateful for filling the ten races that constitute a modern Cat One event, there are no such issues for Monmore.
Tony added: “The strength is holding up particularly well. It is probably somewhere between 480-500.”