Winning open races, let alone a category one final, was the last thing on John Mullins’ mind when the July 12 whelp Ascot Woodie joined him in April. The dog with 28.26 (480m) form at Perry Barr under Pat Rosney had enjoyed a brief spell at Hall Green when John was asked to take him.
Mullins said: “Pat had recommended me to the owners to rear some pups and one day they said, ‘do you fancy taking Woodie to run a few graded races at Yarmouth?’ I thought no more of it until I trialled him and I was a quite surprised (27.60 – 462m). It was a great bonus to win a race like the Champion Stakes with a dog of his age, but he wasn’t over-raced and you can’t beat class.
“I was delighted with Badabing too. The trip is a bit tough but without him holding off the other dog (Millroad Henry) in the semis, Ascot Woodie wouldn’t have been in the final. The plan now is to take Woodie to Sittingbourne (Central Park), with a view to the Kent Derby.”
Mullins had been very bullish about the chances of Ascot Woodie and Dashing Star in the marathon final as a guest on RPGTV on Sunday night. Judging by his 7-1 SP, few shared John’s enthusiasm for a dog who had won just four of his 35 races and had the fifth fastest semi final time from the semi final.
Nevertheless, the dog who had landed an A1 at Yarmouth on the Saturday between heats and final, produced a fine front running display to hold off Droopys Cottage by seven lengths in 47.13.
John said: “He has been lame and came back three kilos overweight. You can’t just take that off quickly, you have to run it off. You try to do that and then races don’t fill. That run at Yarmouth on Saturday just put him right which is why I was so confident.”
