MATTHEWS TEAM TO TRIAL AT TOWCESTER TODAY

Ian Fortune

Brendan Matthews has been a great supporter of the Towcester project in recent years and it’s no surprise to see the Newry maestro targeting the English Derby with a potentially very strong team.

Just twelve months ago Burj Khalifa only narrowly failed to make the English Derby decider, finishing fourth to Clona Duke in his semi-final. This year his team is headed by Kirby Memorial runner-up Merits Inclusion, although the flying females Rushy Meadows and Undulation are also top class.

Merits Inclusion has only had ten career starts but his ability is there for all to see. If finding his trapping boots, he has the pure speed to challenge any greyhound in training to the third turn and could be made for Towcester.

Undulation has already raced at Towcester, winning twice around there in the past. She seems to be better than ever this year and will be a leading contender for the top bitch crown, while it would be no surprise if she went far in the classic.

Rushy Meadows has shown real ability in her short career to date and clocked a seriously fast 28.16 when last seen on the Kirby Memorial final undercard. With a mixture of fine early speed and strength, she too could develop into a serious Derby contender. 

All three are set to trial over 500m at Towcester this afternoon and one would suspect all three have the potential to go deep in the classic if taking to the Northamptonshire venue.

Other notable trialists include the former Pat Guilfoyle trained Scaglietti, who is now under the care of Ricky Holloway and the Pattrick Janssens trained Romeo Command, who ran up last year’s English Derby.