Heading into today’s Betfred Gymcrack Final there were two dogs holding unbeaten records throughout this competition. Short priced favourite Brinkleys Poet (Scolari Me Daddy-Kilara Lizzie, May16) trained by Matt Dartnall and Itsur Mate for Paul Young. It was the former who landed the eight thousand pounds category one final for the Towcester handler under new ownership of Nick and Amanda Jeal.
He ran through the Monmore Puppy Derby where he finished third for Rob Brinkley behind kennelmate and superstar Rising Brandy but he was subsequently purchased for the new connections, and what a shrewd buy it has turned out to be. It was a performance nothing less than exceptional with a blistering break he raced clear to win by over seven lengths and broke the track record in a new fastest 26.95. The trip seemed perfect for him with a drop back from the 480m and I’m sure he’ll be kept to all the shorter four bend competitions, with the Sunderland festival on the horizon he could be a force. It comes as no surprise to many to see team Dartnall on the winners podium and with some class performers over the years these new stars may just put him in the spotlight for some time.
Kinsley always serve up a feast in the stadium but on the track today it also saw some tasty performances. Over a variety of distances supporting the major event. The undercard went to a variety of kennels up and down the country. First up, Quivers Phoenix took the puppy honours with a trap to line performance in 27.59 for trainer Heather Dimmock. Inniskeel Tilly for local handler D Cooper landed the Stayers Maiden following up on her graded success the week before and managed to make all in a time of 40.34. Next up was the Dogs Standard where Lowgate Malfoy made a rare home appearance for J Hayton and in what was a brilliant performance finding all sorts of trouble the strong tracker powered up the straight to land the victory in 27.71.
The mrecent Silver Salver winner, and also new Kinsley sprint track record holder was up next in the shape of Roxholme Hat and winning is what he does best for trainer H Keightley and again he made light work of this field winning by four lengths breaking his own track record in the final of the Sue Fradgley Memorial Final posting a 15.79. The @kinsley Dogs Stayers Final was just before the main event and long odds on Ridgedale Max who is in blistering form showed his class to land this event for P Simmonds with a time of 39.75.
