Manchester Puppy Cup semi-finals recap
Two Keith Swain Manchester Puppy Cup semi-finals were run on Thursday. The top three hounds from each race earned spots in the £2500 Puppy Cup final which will be run on 21 October.
Keith Swain Manchester Puppy Cup 1st semi-final
Heavy 1-2 race favourite, Tudor Prince, recovered from stumbling out of his trap to win the first semi-final by a half length over Ballymac West with a time of 28.10 seconds. It took the majority of the race for Prince to complete his comeback as he took
the lead from West as the two neared the finish line.
Another half length behind West was Borna Coin taking third place. Coin was bumped on the fourth bend, but was still able to stay 2¼ lengths ahead of Whiteoak Striker, who took fourth place.
Soviet Fantasy was expected to finish in the top three, but wasn’t able to do better than fifth. The only hound he beat was 20-1 longshot, Baliff Lucy.
Keith Swain Manchester Puppy Cup 2nd semi-final
The second semi-final saw Droopys Luisao win by 2 lengths over Ballymac Denis with a time of 27.86. Luisao didn’t get off to a very good start, but was able to move up through the crowd and take the lead as he and Denis approached the finish line. Denis
got off to a fantastic start, and led until Luisano squeezed into the lead.
In third, earning the final spot in next Thursday’s final, was Rayvin Neasa, the 4-5 race favourite. Neasa, who is trained by Seamus Cahill, trailed from the traps, and then had to battle Ballymackey Ace on the first bend. The two factors put the favourite
out of contention for first, but he did well to finish third and stay alive in the Manchester Puppy Cup. Ace, who lost that first bend battle with Neasa, finished in fifth place.
In fourth was Blue Blood, and in last was Ballymac Drogba.
Draw for Thursday’s Puppy Cup £2500 final: 1 Ballymac Denis, 2 Rayvin Neasa (m), 3 Droopys Luisao (m), 4 Tudor Prince (m), 5 Borna Coin (m), 6 Ballymac West (m).
The RSA Muttley Derby
Earlier on the Belle Vue card was the RSA Muttley Derby. Swords Tosh won the race, beating Jethart Court by ¾ of a length with a time of 28.37. Tosh led early, and fended off a fighting Court throughout the race.
In third was Telmarcs Swift, the 7-4 race favourite, who couldn’t recover from a slow start. Fourth went to Droopys Cabrera, and in fifth was Hades Desire.
Cuil Colleen was pulled from the first trap and not replaced.
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