Puppy Classic Semi-final at Nottingham and Maidens Trophy heats at Romford recap
The semi-finals of the Caffreys Puppy Classic were held Monday night at Nottingham. Tudor Prince, 4-5 favourite in his race, had the fastest time on the day with 30.02sec. The £7,500 Bank Holiday decider goes next week.
Prince ran in the first semi-final beating Slick Symphony by 5 ¾ lengths. Price led from the traps while Symphony managed to escape some early crowding to earn a spot in the final. Skywalkershearer took third spot. Long shots Firecracker Jack (12-1), Magna Sparrow (14-1), and Peacocks Pride (20-1) finished in fourth, fifth, and sixth spots respectively.
Blonde Fletch, the 4-7 race favourite, took the second semi-final with an impressive showing. Fletch started well, and was behind Slick Sorento early, but managed to catch Sorento late in the race to win by a ½ length. Droopys Mahers finished in third, 1 ¾ lengths back of Sorento. The bottom three racers crowded each other, and were unable to recover. Pond Shefelia finished in fourth, while Droopys Noreen finished fifth, and Fabulous Promise was last.
The third semi-final had Droopys Oscar show fantastic acceleration on the second bend winning the race handily. Oscar beat Droopys Gianni by 6 lengths. Magna Starling took third. Long shots, Mahogany Bolt, Lady Luck, and Kinda Razzle looked like they need more race experience finishing third, fourth, fifth respectively.
The draw for next week’s final is set: 1 Blonde Fletch, 2 Slick Sorento, 3 Tudor Prince, 4 Slick Symphony , 5 Droopys Gianni, 6 Droopys Oscar.
There were three heats of the Coral On TV Maidens Trophy at Romford Monday night as well. The final is set to go this Friday. Friday night at Romford will also see the first round heats of the Coral Champion Stakes.
In the first heat, Daughter of Peg, a 12-1 underdog, beat Droopys Tajmahal by a nose with a time of 24.37. Boo Boos Bella took third, and Droopys Blake took fourth. Tredders Tricky finished in fifth spot after keeping ahead of race favourite, Barnagrane Mark. Mark was a 13-8 favourite but was bumped early and couldn’t recover.
In the second heat, Monalulu Nikki finished first and Faoi Bru finished second, knocking 5-2 race favourite, Elusive Sam, out of the finals. Sam finished a shoulder length behind Bru after getting bumped. Droopys Doctor took fourth, Positive Jusha took fifth, and Maises Falcon finished last.
Centurion Grace led the entire final heat, and finished 3 ¾ lengths ahead of Melodys Light. Little Wizard was the 2-1 race favourite but finished in fifth behind Brykat Breezer, who finished third, and Strattons Brett. Barney Rumble finished last.
Next week’s final is set: 1 Daughter of Peg, 2 Monalulu Nikki, 3 Droopys Tajmahal, 4 Centurion Grace, 5 Melodys Light 6 Faoi Bru.
Tags: