Hove and Oxford Recap: Boherna Blackie delights
While Oxford had two finals last night, it was Boherna Blackie in Hove that delighted spectors, winning the second heat of the Coral Brighton Belle semi-finals with a 29.56 second run. Boherna’s odds were 9-4 in the second heat. Boherna was the fastest on the night, qualifying for next week’s £2500 final.
Brighton needed a late charge to surpass the 5-4 favourite, Spinkys Nod, who seemed to weaken rounding the final bend. Shaws Dilemma, running out of the five trap, finished third with the third fastest time (29.68) of all 18 runners in the semi-finals, but was eliminated from next week’s finals.
Droopys Start won the first heat with a time of 29.75 beating Tidy Clover by 3 ¼ lengths. Droopys started off well, lead the pack around the first corner, and had no trouble keeping the lead. Lenson Mayfly, the 4-5 favourite, baulked in a crowd and couldn’t recover, finishing third and out of the finals.
The third semi-final of the Brighton Belle saw the slowest winner. Paradise Alexus, a 7-4 favourite, finished with a time of 30.03 seconds. The finish line was crowded in this heat with Paradise beating Swift Ribena, who finished second, by a head and with Blue Bee only half a head behind Swift.
The draw for the finals will be: 1 Spinkys Nod, 2 Boherna Blackie, 3 Droopys Start, 4 Paradise Alexus, 5 Swift Ribena, 6 Tidy Clover.
At Oxford there were two Category Three finals, the £1000 Tech Shop UK Maiden Derby over 450m, and the £2000 Tech Shop UK Cesarewitch over 645m.
Bowtime Lefty won the Maiden Derby, pushing his way in front of the pack on the first bend. Bowtime opened up a lead down the back straight, beating Addington Beau by slightly more than a length with a time of 27.02 seconds. King Robbie, the 5-4 favourite, finished third after slowly falling back from the leaders during the race.
Raving Black won the Cesarewitch final with a time of 39.30 seconds, beating Kinda Easy by 4 ¼ lengths. Raving started off well, leading shortly into the race, and continued to widen the gap until the finish line. Defending champion He Went Whoosh trailed the leaders early and was forced back to fifth place after getting crowded. It looked as though there was something off with Whoosh, who entered the race as the 6-4 favourite.
Earlier at Oxford, Jimmy Lollie, the 1-3 favourite in the Tech Shop UK Sprint, was upset by Boherduff Monti (7-2). Boherduff lead from the traps with a quick start. Jimmy pressed for first, but was forced back by Boherduff in what ended up being one of the more exciting races on the night
Tags: