Last year’s Coral Golden Sprint runner-up Laughing Gravy will get the chance to put matters right in next Friday’s final, but he will have to reverse form with Vanayamzaman (Slip The Lark-Aglish Ciara, Oct 12) to do so.
Kevin Hutton’s orange jacketed runner was drawn on the inside of the Pruhs trained 11-10f but ran far better than his 12-1 SP suggested he might. The pair crossed the winning line in identical 3.72 sectionals, with You Never Listen (T3) back in third. Vanayamzaman got first choice of line at the bend with Gravy in second place. The favourite showed superior backstraight pace but any potential overtake fizzled out at the third bend and the leader stayed on to win by one and a bit in 23.91.
The third qualifier was virtually an identically run race with 7-2 chance Droopys Story (T5) playing the role of Vanayamzaman and Pass To Go inheriting Laughing Gravy’s support role. Story led up in 3.79 and stayed on by a length and a bit in 24.17 (N). The talking point of the race was the elimination of Scolari Sound (4-5f) from trap one.
The middle qualifier was a messy event with 7-1 chance Jolly Ranger (T2)escaping the worst of the first bend trouble as Express Master (T3) scattered the field. Simon Harms’ leader was never trouble and won by three in 24.50 from the black jacketed Ballinclare Solo
The final draw is intriguing and sees three wide seeds and two railers with Gravy drawn on the inside of Vanayamzaman and running in the black jacket for only the third time of his career.
