Greenwell Viper looking to strike in Scottish Derby Final
The name Greenwell Viper has been on the lips of many of the punters at Shawfield over the past couple of weeks.
The home-grown Pat Flaherty talent, who is from the same kennels as track record-holder Greenwell River, lit up the heats for the Bettor.com Scottish Derby with some fantastic performances – which saw his odds drop to as short as 3-1 for the title. However, he disappointed in the semi-finals and has drifted out to third in the market for Saturday’s final.
If the rain hits Shawfield then you would imagine Greenwell Viper’s odds will shorten considerably on the night. The Shawfield veteran has produced some impressive performances in the wet and slow track conditions, most notably his demolition job of his rivals in the first-round heat (29.23secs).
He failed to live up to his previous form though when the rain stayed away in the semi-finals. In that race he only qualified by a head in front of Final Washington in a disappointing time of 29.65secs. Flaherty’s charge is also not the sharpest of starters, and has missed the break three times from his last four runs, which could give the advantage to Westmead Scolari who is drawn outside him in trap six.
There will be huge support from the locals for Greenwell Viper on the night, with Shawfield being Flaherty’s local track – can the Viper send his followers’ home happy? All will be revealed tomorrow night, but with the conditions predicted to stay dry, Flaherty’s dog may not be able to live with his opponent’s early pace.
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