Mark Wallis has three in Wimbledon Puppy Derby final
Champion trainer Mark Wallis will be represented by half the field in next Tuesday’s £6,000 Puppy Derby final at Wimbledon.
The Lakenheath-based trainer was due some good news after his kennels took a big blow last week with star’ Eye Eye Pickle picking up a career ending injury during a trial at Sittingbourne.
Six youngsters managed to make it into last nights semis for Wallis. The first to represent him in the opener were Blonde Fletch [2-1JF] and Kinda Razzle [8-1].
Fletch was unable to get out of the traps with enough pace to keep up with Dave Firmager's trained Romeo Spartan [2-1JF] who just pinged to perfection and went onto winning the race in 28.57sec over the 480m.
The key to the victory was early pace and the good news for Wallis is that Razzle did manage to ping the lids near enough equal to the winner and eventually went onto securing his place in the final, clocking 28.85sec in second place.
Trainer Ted Soppitt’s trip from Durham worked out to be worthwhile as Taylors Cruise [1-1favourite] paid dividends successfully in the second semi. A race in which Wallis gladly settled for second once again with Blonde Ross doing the honors in 29.04sec.
The best performance from the Imperial kennels came from Blonde Snapper [4-1] in the last semi. Snapper was the fastest of the night and came through an extremely challenging field. Trapping well and making the bend provided the advantage to take lead and clock 28.45sec to win.
Wallis said: "I'm delighted. I've been shouting about Blonde Snapper for the last couple of months and feel that he could be very special. When he traps I've no doubt he's the best pup in the country.
"To get three into the final of a competition as prestigious as the Puppy Derby is very, very satisfying. We had a decent entry, and they've all run well. I'm thrilled, but we haven't won it yet."
Trap draw for Tuesday's live on Sky final:
T1 Kinda Razzle, T2 Taylors Cruise, T3 Blonde Ross, T4 Rayvin Giovanni, T5 Blonde Snapper, T6 Romeo Spartan.
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