Viper strikes again in Bettor.com Scottish Derby
Greenwell Viper continued his venomous surge towards the Bettor.com Scottish Derby crown with another brilliant performance in yesterday’s second round at Shawfield.
Pat Flaherty's charge saw off all challengers in a competitive heat to score by three lengths in a time of 29.22secs, proving that his success in the first round was no fluke.
Viper produced the quickest time of the night despite running the slowest split after fluffing his lines from the traps, which makes his performance even more impressive. It could be argued that missing the break actually gave the eventual winner the advantage, as he avoided first bend crowding to sneak up the inside rail without having his stride checked.
Nambisco grabbed the lead down the back straight, but Westmead Scolari and Greenwell Viper closed in approaching the third bend where the latter breezed through on the outside to draw clear on the final bend. Westmead Scolari and Nambisco plugged on gamely in the heavy conditions to finish second and third respectively.
Tyrur Speedy was denied on the line by a defiant late charge by Ardmayle Courier in heat three. Nick Saava’s runner looked to be struggling to cope with the early pace of Tyrur Speedy but stayed on strongly in the home straight to score by a head in a time of 29.24secs. Westmead Bond secured his qualification for the semi-finals as he finished a further three lengths back in third.
Heat four saw favourite Blood Of Kings exit the competition after enduring a nightmare run which involved him missing the break and being bumped at the first bend. As predicted in the bettor.com preview, Final Washington was hugely overpriced around the 8-1 mark and took advantage of Blood Of Kings’ failures to win the heat by two lengths in a time of 29.64secs. Ardkill Ernie took advantage of his early pace to avoid the first bend crowding and finished second with Ballymac Rebound coming home in third.
Craig Dawson's Ardera Monarch recovered from a slow start to take heat one, capitalising on Newlawn Class’s lack of fitness down the final straight. Newlawn Class looked the winner a long way out as he strode four lengths clear down the back straight, but was treading water turning for home, obviously still feeling the effects of the tonsils surgery that kept him out of action for a month. Droopys Kentucky ran on impressively after early crowding to take the final qualifying spot.
Draw for Saturday's semis
Semi- final one
1 Ardkill Ernie, 2 Droopys Kentucky, 3 Ardera Monarch, 4 Final Washington (w), 5 Westmead Scolari (w), 6 Greenwell Viper (w).
Semi- final two
1 Nambisco, 2 Tyrur Speedy, 3 Westmead Bond, 4 Ballymac Rebound, 5 Ardmayle Courier (m), 6 Newlawn Class (m).
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