What is racing domination? A good definition might be ‘when you win by almost five lengths and the runner-up clocks the second fastest time of the night‘.
The mighty Donation made the best of conditions to produce a stunning second round win in the second round of the English Oaks at Swindon on Saturday night. Horrendous weather undoubtedly produced an outside bias though that takes nothing away from Heather Dimmock’s bitch who beat Irish raider Jumeirah Charm in 28.81 on going rated -60 for the 480m. It was her 26th UK open race win in 44 outings.
Was the going allowance accurate?
As always, any calculation will favour some hounds more than others and certainly the strong running wide Donation would have been less inconvenienced than most by the rain sodden going.
But the three calculated winning times for local runner Jet Stream Proof seem to validate the RM’s assessment. A 28.61 (N) A1 graded winner off a 2.34 sectional two runs previously, Pete Swadden’s bitch won her first round heat in 28.91 (-20) and followed up on Saturday night with a 29.33 (-60) unchallenged effort, also off an identical 2.34 sectional.
On that basis, you could argue that compared to normal going, a more accurate assessment might have been (-72)! Nevertheless the racing office’s assessment of a calculated 28.21 would put the Lowther winner three spots outside the track record.
It was a good night for trainer Heather Dimmock who also saw Kanturk Repeat, win only her second race since her disqualification in the Champion Stakes Final.
Heather said: “I was happy with both the bitches who are both fine today. Donation has taken to Swindon really well. She found the Eclipse tough, up against the Derby winner, but she seems to be back in form. There are five wide seeds through and although she has won from four, (and two – Ed), she really does like trap six.
“Kanturk Repeat did nothing wrong to win her heat. I was surprised when she fought at Romford. We actually thought that she had been distracted.”
Other talking points on the night where the striped jacket landed three heats and finished second in another two, included the elimination of defending champ Wuheida the fancied Arthur Noodle, and Droopys Live.
The draw for the two semi finals is due to take place at GBGB offices on Monday.
