On a night of two Cat One finals, it is a wrench not to select Birmingham Cup winner Ivanexile for the Perry Barr nomination. But Havana Lover had to show trackcraft and guts to keep her unbeaten tag in the ARC St Leger. If ever there was a case for selecting a beaten runner though, few could argue against the claims of the veteran Savana Volcano whose storming finish saw her finish second.
At Romford on Friday, Lover’s kennelmate Warzone Tom equalled Havana Bale Out’s FOY for the six bend trip. But it was the fastest hound over the 400m course, Romeo Hotshot, who clocked the fastest 400 in almost two years to take the Puppy Cup Final. And he won’t be two years old until January! On the same night, ex Romford grader Twolengthstoogud became the first hound to break 27.00 for Oxford’s 450 metres.
Callmesteve would have featured in the Leger final in a ‘two from the heats, three from the semis’ make-up. Instead he found himself back at Towcester on Sunday with a bloodless 1-4 victory over the 712m.
Last Sunday, Forest Roanna was chasing home Fabulous Azurra in the Northamptonshire track’s Empress Stakes. Roll forward a week and the Swindon 28.38 (476) open race winner was tackling six bends for the first time. It went well with a 41.83 (+15) win, an identical clock (and going) to Emotional’s FOY recorded back in the Spring.
The highlight of Saturday’s racing was a stunning 28.39 run by the 2021 Romford Puppy Cup winner Brookside Richie in the first round of the Bresbet Steel City Cup at Sheffield. Only track record holder Domino Storm (28.27) has ever gone quicker.
Along with Havana Lover, Dave Lee’s Corrin Logan is the only other runner back for a second week after winning his fifth consecutive race, three at Crayford and two at Harlow. While kennelmate and ex-A5 grader Lakeview Star was the only Crayford hound to break 34.00 for six bends this week.
There was an open race return from season for the brilliant Churchill Holly at Nottingham on Monday. But on a night when the next fastest time over the 500m course was 30.39, 29.92 graded winner Planters Return outshone the open racers.
It is unlikely that a 24.64 will ever again represent a POW at Suffolk Downs. But the event was an A1, track record holder Saffrons Dash and open racer Antigua Littllun were in the line-up and both Wallis trained runners were unable to live with their kennelmate Vilamoura Jet. While at sister track Henlow, there were identical clockings of 27.45 from Liffeyside Blake and Peejays Forever over the weekend. No question on the top run though with Jason Gornall’s runner turning over Savana Raven in A1 company.
Newcastle staged four A1 races on their Wednesday card which were won in 28.71, 28.70, 28.66, and 28.58. The quickest of the quartet was the prolific Wraysbury Diva with a new personal best. Sunderland’s quickest winner of the week was Itsmondaygeoff with a 27.37 (+10) win in A2. Although Minnies Mira was four spots slower, Yvonne Bell’s puppy landed her A1 on normal going. Staying in the North East, it is 19 months since British bred Hurleys Spring made his debut in A4 at Pelaw Grange. On Sunday he recorded the fastest run of the week, and a new personal best of 25.67 for the 435m.
The Hove selection was tricky. There was Glengar Cruisin with another fabulous last-to-first in 29.54. On Saturday night there was 29.64 (-30) win for Amaze Me More. But My Girl Mia, who was six spots slower on the night, also landed an A1. That is some going for a 19 month old who is the youngest on show this week.
Despite the lack of opens this week, there was no shortage of decent A1 runs at Monmore. Best of the lot though was Paul Sallis’ Freedom Editor who clocked the fastest 480, 28.33.
There was a similar ‘open less’ week at Central Park, though the respite will be short with both the ARC sponsored Kent Derby and Grand National due to commence is less than a fortnight. In the meantime, the A1 runners have ruled with Alfie Herbert’s converted D1 sprinter Coonough Bridge the most recent top heat winner in 29.26.
Yellow Brick first appeared on this website a year ago in the Irish Performance of the Week feature for a good win at Limerick. She made her first appearance in this column in April, and following a quick switch to six bends, saw off the week’s best A1 at Yarmouth.
At Doncaster, Ballymac Rocker was made a 2-1 chance when finishing behind last week’s POW Zero O Eight. The pair met again on Sunday in the week’s only A1. Rocker (6-4f) took a flyer, Eight (4-1) set off in pursuit but was just a neck adrift as they crossed the winning line. A few hours later across Yorkshire, Monadreen Joy made his UK debut in the week’s top event, an A2, and duly produced the fastest run of the week, 27.79.
