Glenpadden Rock capitalised from his fence side draw to land the final of the Ladbrokes Puppy Derby over 480 metres at Monmore this afternoon writes Jason Craddock.
Barrie Draper’s runner, a 7-2 shot, broke well and held his position on the inside while the favourite Vatican Balotelli and Teejays Panther did each other no favours trying to get to the fence.
At the turn Vatican Baloteli ran off slightly and cannoned into Honest John who caused another fancied runner Romany Rouge to check. In all this mayhem Glenpadden Rock was left two lengths clear.
The favourite tried to close the gap when they straightened up along the back, but it was left to Honest John to chase home the winner, who scored by a length and three quarters in 28.49sec.
La Cuchilla went quicker when landing the Ladbrokes Spring Festival Dogs Trophy.
Steve Race’s runner, also running from the inside berth, broke well and held his position to the turn. Meanwhile the favourite Swift Keith didn’t break and like most of the field was involved in congestion at the opening turn. All this left La Cuchilla, a 7-2 chance, clear and he came home almost three lengths clear of Dundalk International winner Metro Jack in 28.28sec.
Jack’s trainer June McCombe went one better with Oaks winner Cashen Maureen in the Ladbrokes Spring Festival Bitches Trophy.
Evanta Evita led but was running on empty in the closing stages and Cashen Maureen, the 6-4 favourite, came through to eventually beat Chaotic Dolly by a length in 28.45sec.
Fivestar Clipper was a trap to line winner of the Ladbrokes Spring Festival 630 Final.
Derek Knight’s runner flew out of the traps and made all the running to hold the late surge of favourite Billy Bullet by a head in 37.81sec.
