Final six in Coral Regency
Disaster struck for ante-post favourite Droopys Belletti at Brighton & Hove last night in the semi-finals of the Coral Regency. The Charlie Lister-trained dog finished last in the opener – shifting the spotlight to Bush Paddy, who is now the new favourite amongst the final six to take next Tuesday's £8,000 final.
Paddy was drawn in trap one and was the fastest to break loose from the traps. The Dean Childs-trained charge gave it his all across the 695m and never looked to face any real threat from the field as he managed to clock the best time of the night (41.24secs).
He has been drawn with a trap two start in next Tuesday’s final, a trap he ran from in the heats, where he also finished first. If he can maintain the same form and ping as well as he has, he will surely be a big contender to claim the £8,000 prize.
Capel Smiley was the second to qualify, crossing the mark three lengths after Paddy. The Tony Gifkins- trained charge made another trap four start and clocked pretty much the same time. He has been drawn in trap five in the final and being a wide runner, is favoured to produce a good effort.
He Went Whoosh suffered from early crowding but wasn’t affected as badly as Belletti, he made a trap two start and managed to improve on time by two and half lengths. This strong hound is yet another suited wide runner and will be making a trap six start next week, which should provide him with every chance.
The second semi-final went in favour of Irish raider Paul Hennessy in the form of Group Skater. Skater crossed the mark in 41.26secs which is one of the fastest times clocked in the competition so far and which as a result saw him defeat b***h of the year Midway Skipper.
Skipper was quick away from traps and led to the first bend until Skater whizzed past, she is a b***h which I managed to back at 25-1 in early stages, and has been drawn with a trap four start on final night. I just hope she breaks well and manages to obtain any lead - some early crowding on either side would also be useful but I have full faith in her to at least make things competitive.
Crown Rover was the last to qualify to complete the final six. Rover’s best time so far in the competition has been 41.49sec, the bookies favour him pretty highly to take the competition after being gifted with a trap one start in the final.
The £8,000 final will be a live Sky Sports televised event, it looks to be shaping up nicely. As much as I would love to see Skipper land the competition, I feel the biggest threat will come from trap one and two.
Draw for Tuesday’s £8,000 final: 1Crown Rover, 2 Bush Paddy, 3 Group Skater, 4 Midway Skipper, 5 Capel Smiley (w), 6 He Went Whoosh (w).
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