The Queen Mother Memorial Cup kick-started at Sheffield on Tuesday night, with the meeting consisting of three heats which would see through six finalists into this Saturday's £2,500 final.
Many familiar names were competed across the 660m stretch but it was Jimmy Wright’s charge Crown Rover who stole the spotlight as he produced the best performance of the night.
Rover (7-4F) clocked an impressive 39.92secs in heat three. Displaying great pace, he always looked likely to pay dividends from the moment he pinged out of trap three.
The only threat to Rover came from Eclipse finalist Romeo Maldini (4-1), who pinged out from trap five with great momentum, but failed to test the sheer class and pace of Rover and eventually cleared the mark in 40.26secs to take second.
The Ladbrokes Christmas Festival 630m was the last major competition Rover bagged, and if he can replicate Tuesday’s performance on Saturday he should be on his way to another winner by becoming the new Queen Mother Memorial Cup champion.
Heat one’s qualifiers were Lissakyle Robin (10-1) and Patterdale Raffa (14-1), who were both the underdogs in the race. Robin took first in 40.96secs and Rafa clocked 41.14secs.
Heat two saw Farloe Rocket (10-11F) make an early exit from the competition, whilst on an upside, Droopys Arshavin (9-4) gave trainer Stuart Mason a result to be proud of - not only did Arshavin clear the mark by five lengths to take first, but he also maintained his unbeaten record for 2010.
If Arshavin can continue his Eye Onthe Storm-style form, he may well be on his way to cup glory. Hill Tipoki is the last of six to make it to the final and clocked a time of 40.75secs.
The draw for Sunday’s £2,500 Queen Mother Memorial Cup final is: 1 Crown Rover, 2 Patterdale Raffa, 3 Lissakyle Robin, 4 Droopys Arshavin, 5 Hill Tipoki, 6 Romeo Maldini.
Tags: