Johnny Quick showed his true potential in his second race here when winning at the weekend.

A week earlier on his debut he completely missed his break when the traps opened and, having showed some initial early pace, was the victim of some bumping at two of the four bends and eventually finished fifth.

He made no mistake, however, at the second time of asking when leading from trap to line to win in 23.98sec. On this evidence the dog will show further improvement and may land a quick double.

In racing many people use prefix names on their dogs, whether that be the name of a breeding kennel or a name used by a certain owner.
Sometimes those prefix names stand for dogs that have quality. One of them is the ‘Noirs’ prefix.

So when Noirs Drop appeared at the track having joined trainer Barry O’Sullivan’s kennels it was time for me to keep an eye on progress.

To date, she has had 12 races at Crayford with three wins and three second-place finishes which is a good strike rate for a pup who will not be two until June.

After seven races over 380m, trainer O’Sullivan decided to switch the dog to our 540m distance and this seems to have been extremely beneficial to her having now won in grade S4 in a very good 33.95.

In simple terms, any dog that can break the 34-second barrier is worthy of note and for one so young she looks set to climb up our grading system without much trouble.

There will be more wins from her.

Just a word for one of the track’s favourite dogs, Kellystown Andy, who was retired after his race here last Saturday which, fittingly, he won.

Trained by Julie Luckhurst, the dog was equally effective on both flat and over hurdles.

He was whelped in June 2009 and is a son of Ninja Blue. His career record shows 146 competitive races, with 32 wins and 27 second places which equates to finishing in the frame in a third of his races.

It is a well-earned retirement and I understand the dog will be going to his owners’ home, which is fitting as they have always seen the dog as part of the family.