The two RPGTV East Anglian Derby semi finals will be contested by four railers and eight middle seeds but Yarmouth racing manager Marcus Westgate wouldn’t change a thing.
He said: “I think they are all correctly seeded, at least on the basis of what we have seen so far. I don’t believe we’ve seen a greater exhibition of early pace in the Derby ever.
“I am happy with the way the draws worked out. I think Kilmore Lemon has the ability to lead all the way on the outside. Not only does he have the best sectional, he was travelling even faster by the bend. I fancied King Elvis at the start of the event and nothing changes that view. He looks ideally drawn.”
The highlight of the second round was the track record equalling performance of Liz McNair’s King Elvis with a ‘27.17′ last seen on the Yarmouth results screen eight years (minus a day) earlier, and next to the name of Fear Zafonic.
(Interestingly, five of the seven fastest winners over course and distance have gone on to land the EAD, the exceptions being Murrys Act last year and another former McNair runner, Leamaneigh Turbo).
The opening heat saw Kilmore Lemon answer any doubter as to his ability to stay with a box-to-beam performance. His 5.23 sectional was just half a length outside Fifis Rocket’s record.
Heat 2 saw Lost One Dare just narrowly clear Bubbly Turbo at the first bend and then extend his lead to clock the second fastest time of the night.
Affane Party produced another impressive if bizarre performance to land the third heat. Noted as one of the best sprinters in training, John Lambe’s dog looked bereft of early pace with another slow break but showed tremendous middle speed and was not stopping when the crossed the line in 27.54.
Finally the track record run of King Elvis. Rab McNair had predicted that his Greyhound of the Year would benefit from his first round experience and so it showed when becoming the third black jacketed heat winner.
