It was a night for the layers not the punters as all three favourites were turned over in the Bresbet Steel City Cup semi finals with only one making it to the decider.

Quickest on the clock was Kevin Hutton’s Birmingham Cup finalist Rioja Joey who set a flying 4.16 sectional on his way to a 28.42 winning time in a repeat of heat form. He will be joined in the decider by two East Anglian Derby finalists: Coolavanny Shado and Swift Iconic and the locally bred Produce Stakes finalist Acomb Felix. The last qualifier went to two runners who have emerged from A1 to win opens at their respective tracks, Marlfield Diaz (Newcastle) and One Day Tom (Nottingham).

Tueday’s final will feature four railers and two middles (see below)