Giovanni looks impressive in Romford Puppy Cup heats
The first six heats of the Romford Puppy Cup were held yesterday at Romford. As expected, trainer Seamus Cahill’s greyhound, Rayvin Giovanni, was the star of the first round, qualifying with the fastest time of the heats.
Heat one
The first heat saw 5-4 race favourite, Ballymac Denis, lose to Bright Redcliff by 3 lengths. Denis ran well and challenged for the lead, but Redcliff would not surrender it. Qualifying behind them was Strattons Brett in third. Eliminated in the first heat were a couple of longshots, Fabulous Disco (14-1) and Blue Louie (20-1), who finished in fourth and fifth spots respectively. Finishing in last was Farantane Pal.
Heat two
Rayvin Giovanni recorded his time of 23.90 in the second heat while beating second place, Archers Eagle, by an incredible 13 ½ lengths. The field in this race were all considered longshots against Giovanni, who came in as the race favourite with 1-5 odds. Eagle was a 25-1 longshot, but that number was certainly inflated owing to punters knowing that Giovanni would run away with this one. Qualifying behind Giovanni and Eagle was Ballymac Louise (14-1) in third. In fourth, and failing to qualify for the semi-finals, was Cockney Diva. Behind her by a shoulder was Southoe Prince in fifth, and coming in last was Fabulous Thought.
Heat three
Another race favourite, Ballymac Celia at 5-2, won the third heat. Celia took an early lead, and held it to beat Butterbridge Jen by ½ a length. Flopsy Bunnytail lost some ground on the fourth bend, but was able to keep a shoulder ahead of Southoe Manx to take third. Stressmanagement finished in fifth place, a length behind Manx, and Da Conqueror couldn’t conquer anything but last in this race.
Heat four
Little Urge, the 8-11 race favourite, took the fourth heat by 2 ½ lengths over Final Gold. In third place, after losing significant ground on the first bend, was Astro Boy. Failing to qualify for the semi-finals were Townbrow Fly in fourth, Romeo Trojan in fifth, and Send in Lizzy in last place.
Heat five
Devastator, another strong entrant in the Puppy Cup, was the 9-4 race favourite in the fifth heat, but wasn’t able to beat Daughter Of Peg, who won by 1 ¾ lengths over Devastator after leading the entire race. Also qualifying was Droopys Doctor, finishing ¾ lengths behind Devastator in third. Not advancing from the fifth heat were Pinewood Champ in fourth, Droopys Yeats in fifth, and Jadon Blue in last.
Heat six
Even odds favourite Droopys Tajmahal almost became the only race favourite of the first round not to qualify, but a strong finish kept the favourite in third place by a shoulder over Black Manuel. Cotswold Hegarty and Oscars Blurr made the race exciting as Blurr took the early lead, but lost it to Hegarty after the third bend. Hegarty finished 2 lengths ahead of Blurr, who was a 14-1 longshot to win the race. Tiermana Droopy finished in fifth place and Isit in sixth; both will miss the semi-finals with Black Manuel.
Semi-final draws
1st semi: 1 Devastator, 2 Ballymac Denis, 3 Little Urge, 4 Final Gold, 5 Droopys Doctor (m), 6 Cotswold Hegarty (w).
2nd semi: 1 Ballymac Celia, 2 Oscars Blurr, 3 Daughter Of Peg, 4 Butterbridge Jen (m), 5 Astro Boy (m), 6 Archers Eagle (w).
3rd semi: 1 Flopsy Bunnytail, 2 Ballymac Louise, 3 Strattons Brett, 4 Bright Redcliffe, 5 Rayvin Giovanni (m), 6 Droopys Tajmahal (w)
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