Even on a circuit as fair as Sheffield, the benefits of early pace were once again exhibited by Candelight Fire (Ballymac Vic-Droopys Peaches, Apr 14) in the £500 puppy stake final.
Favourite was the previously unbeaten Cloran Paddy (T3) but it was ‘race on’ from the moment the Elaine Parker trained Fire bolted from the boxes. He was two and a half clear at the turn as the favourite was closed out on the rail. He was bumped and checked badly and was probably twelve lengths adrift of the leader in fourth place off the second bend.
Fire continued to dominate from the front pursued by Ballymac Ramsay who also suffered in early skirmishes. The leader was tying up dramatically on the run home and just held on by half a length from Ramsay with the favourite putting in an astonishing run to finish another length third. Candlelight Fire’s winning time was 28.87 (+10), his fourth win in his last five races.
On another successful night for Team Parker, Droopys Gigi (Westmead Hawk-Droopys Solange, Aug 12) extended her recent form to 6/10 with a career best 27.87 over the 480 metres. Not bad for a bitch with 39.37 winning form over the 660 metres. Later on the card, Light Foot Mata (Droopys Scolari-Light Foot Molly, Oct 13) made the first appearance since November’s Eclipse semis, with a 28.78 (+10) win over 500 metres.
