Betfair Steel City Cup semi-final recap
The Betfair Steel City Cup semi-final races were held at Sheffield last night. Mill Pinpoint recorded the fastest time running the 500m race in 28.95 seconds. Pinpoint recorded the fastest time of the last week’s heats as well, and will be one of the favourites at Tuesday’s finals from Sheffield.
Pinpoint had no trouble leading out of trap two in the first semi-final. The 5-4 race favourite kept his lead the entire race although second place finisher, Craighall Horse, stayed close and finished 1 1/3 lengths behind Pinpoint. Horse was a 12-1 longshot in the race, but looked good keeping up with Pinpoint. Farloe Lee, at 3-1, was the other greyhound to earn a spot in the finals. Droopys Kentucky, Magna Venturer, and Pennys Genesis, who finished fourth, fifth, and sixth respectively, crowded each other out of the race early. Venturer was expected to win a spot in the finals at 11-4 but wasn’t able to power though the crowding.
The second semi-final saw joint-favourites, Elwick Chris and Was Not Me, finish in the one and two spots. The 3-1 favourites stayed ahead of the pack for the duration of the race but no dog fell behind. Chris won the race with a time of 28.99 while Sunoak Crystal finished last with a time of 29.30. Oneco Black took third and the last spot in the final finishing ¾ lengths back of Was Not Me, and only a head in front of Deerfield Sam. Wilfy Wells finished in the fifth spot. The second heat was an excitingly close race in which the biggest longshot, third place finisher Oneco Black, had 6-1 odds.
Trainers, Michael Walsh and Kelly Macari, both had winners in other races at Sheffield last night. Macari saw Pinpoint win the first semi-final, and Witton Hughesie win the Tomah Engineers Sprint by ½ length over Colliery Lad. Walsh, trainer of second semi-final winner, Elwick Chris, also saw Elwick Blitz win the Fox Precision Stakes (for b*****s). Blitz was out of the traps early and led for the duration of the race. She beat Droopys Flo by 1 1/3 lengths.
Look for an exciting final with Elwick Chris and Mill Pinpoint racing out of the one and two traps.
The draw for the final will look like this: 1 Elwick Chris, 2 Mill Pinpoint, 3 Was Not Me, 4 Craighall Horse (m), 5 Oneco Black (w), 6 Farloe Lee (w).
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