Gymcrack semi-final results: Blue Artisan still a strong favourite
The Newton Abbot Racecourse Gymcrack semi-finals took place yesterday in a far from usual afternoon fixture at Hall Green across 480m.
Harry Williams’ dog Blue Artisan kept his place under the spotlight, producing the fastest time (28.44sec) out of the three races which will ensure he remains on top of the ante-post market for next Tuesday's final.
Artisan (6-4 favourite) was drawn in Blue, which was an added bonus to the seeded inside-railer who we already know tends to have great early pace.
The July 2008 pup trapped well to clock one of the best sectional times (4.68sec) on the day and was soon in a commanding position leading to a victory of four-and-a-quarter lengths over market rival Droopys Bradley (15-8).
Pat Rosney’s Bower Eagle offers enormous returns in the ante-post market of 8-1 to take the final next week as he also topped the list in the second semi-final.
Eagle is also unbeaten, like Artisan, and may be a threat to the favourite if he can ping well next week; he’s certainly been improving on each occasion and hasn’t been drawn with a bad trap either.
Droopys Poirot (2-5 favourite) failed to pay dividends after failing to obtain his lead against Eagle. Poirot will be in trap six for the final and although he was unlucky on this occasion, it would be foolish to rule him out.
Trainer Mark Wallis entered a total of seven hopefuls into the Category Two competition and has one remaining in the form of Blonde Snapper who will be competing for the £6,000 prize.
Snapper clocked a time of 28.56sec and was another early pace leader on the day who managed to produce a comfortable victory in the opening race of the semi-finals.
The final card for next week’s draw looks to be an interesting one, and one thing I’ve certainly learnt about puppies after the Bettor.com Peterborough Puppy Derby final is that solving puppy races often has its problems, with runners likely to show marked improvement at any time.
Draw for Tuesday's Live Sky Sports final: T1 Bower Eagle, T2 Blue Artisan, T3 Droopys Bradley, T4 Magna Sparrow, T5 Blonde Snapper (m), T6 Droopys Poirot (w)
Bettor.com winner prediction: T2 - Blue Artisan
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