The three semi finals of the Nottingham Puppy Classic went largely to form and resulted in what will possibly be the best line-up ever for next week’s final.
Bubbly Bluebird (T3) ran like a 2-7f should with another stunning stunning display of pace track craft and bravery. Reasonably away (5.04 sect), we demonstrated his acceleration to the turn and cut straight across the red jacketed Newinn Blitz (5.09). He railed like a cat and was gone. The final winning distance was five lengths and the winner’s time was 29.64.
The second semi final was expected to see an early buckle between All About Class (T2) and favourite Newinn Shadow (T4 4-5f). But Class missed the kick and it was 20-1 outsider Ballymac Benz (T3) who was the first to show with Shadow accelerating along his outside. Benz ran well to keep his balance when nudged at the bend but it enabled the favourite to skip clear. Benz did his best to stay on terms but the 500 metres appears at the upper range of his stamina preference. The opposite is true of Vatican Venice (T5 6-1) who trailed the field early, ran around the crowding at the bend and eventually reeled in Benz to take the second qualifying place. At the line though he was still three lengths adrift of Seamus Cahill’s 29.87 winner.
Kildallon Bolt (T3) was available at 9-2 earlier in the day but was down to a more accurate 11-4 when he went to traps. Heather Dimmock’s black made an electric start (4.98 sec) and moved to the middle giving red jacketed favourite Ballinakil Biddy (5.04) a clear run on his inside. At the bend, the leader swept across to rail and sealed the winning advantage. He eventually came home some two and a half lengths clear of the 2-1f in the fastest time of the night, 29.57. Truly A Legend ran a stormer to finish third after missing his break and definitely looks one for the notebook.
The draw for Monday’s final is intriguing. Pat Rosney’s pair are ideally drawn (T1, T6), Seamus Cahill (T4 T5) must feel as though he ran over a black cat, but most interest will be concentrated on the blue and white boxes.
Draw: 1 Newinn Blitz, 2 Bubbly Bluebird, 3 Kildallon Bolt, 4 Ballinakil Buddy, 5 Newinn Shadow (m), 6 Vatican Venice (w).
