There have only been two winning dead-heats in open races so far this year, the second occurred at Nottingham on Monday.
Snooty Blue and Glenhill Di were the 7-2 and 7-1 outsiders in the £500 Dual Distance Final; Forest Gavin (7-4f) was expected to remain unbeaten after the sprint first legs. But in a race dictated by Glenhill Di and Ballymac Godsend, Chris Allsopp’s Blue got up on the line to share the spoils with Gerry Ballentine’s Di in 29.11 for the 480 metres.
The 500m decider also saw the favourite beaten as Kevin Cobbold’s 12-1 outsider Decoy Legend (Cashen Legend-Mannix Savings, Jul 13) found four length on heat form to beat Fit Right by half a length in 30.00.
The race of the night though featured the return to 680 metres of Sean Davy’s Clever Jamie (Ace Hi Rumble-Athboy Fantasy, Nov 13). Unbeaten at the track over the trip, he had come unstuck over 730 on the night Coolavanny Lass had recorded the fastest 680 of the year. In a race that also featured prolific open winners Oneco Sky and Elwick Glory, the markets favoured Lass (2-1f) but Jamie led at the turn and was never headed for a length win in 41.87.
Looking forward a week, punters can prepare for an intriguing clash between Pat Rosney’s Fearsome Phantom (Westmead Hawk-Hesley Hawaii, May 14) and Jim Hayton’s Lowgate Hagrid (Windy Millar-Hawks Dutchess, Aug 14). The two British bred pups met in the heats of a decent quality maiden. Phantom got home by six in 28.83, Gymcrack runner-up Hagrid won by three in 28.86 for the 480m.
*The fastest 480 of the meeting was recorded by Steve Race’s Ballymac Elvis (Tullymurry Act-Ballymac Sky, Sep 14) in a puppy open with a run of 28.80.
