bet365 Empress Stakes semi-finals live up to the hype

Dogs are from Mars, track record bitches are from Venus.

Barntick Bear has company at the head of the Towcester 500m standings. Avongate Venus was foot perfect from the lids in her semi-final, clocking the same 28.52 in the process. On paper beforehand, it had looked like a hugely competitive contest but it was turned into a procession courtesy of a flying 3.95 split.

Phil Milner’s charge has now won 10 of her 11 starts for owner Sean O’Connor and will go to traps next week as the red-hot favourite for Category One glory. New Destiny ran a huge race to qualify, going around the outside of Queen Georgia at the second bend. A powerful runner for Mark Wallis, she closed the winner down but was never going to get there.

The opening semi-final went to Droopys Eunice for Maxine Locke with a 29.01 display. She is joined in the final by Laurence Tuffin’s Fabulous Terra with the odds-on favourite Leighas Dream, not trapping as well as she can, back in third.

29.01 was the winning time of the third semi as well. If not for the track record being equalled, this would have been the run of the afternoon. Nathan Hunt’s Icemans Girl went around in front but she was run down late on by Urlee Star for David Elcock.

The winner made up a huge amount of ground down the back to time her challenge right. A litter-sister to Select Stayers winner Vale Bluebell and a half to Wasted Monday, she is clearly a very smart recruit.

bet365 Empress Stakes SF1 – 1st – Droopys Eunice (t1) 2nd – Fabulous Terra (t4) 3rd – Leighas Dream (t6)

SF2 – 1st – Avongate Venus (t5) 2nd – New Destiny (t1) 3rd – Queen Georgia (t3)

SF3 – 1st – Urlee Star (t2) 2nd – Icemans Girl (t3) 3rd – Coolavanny Mercy (t4)

Joe’s Nottingham Tips

***9.11 Nottingham – Velvet Madrid
** 8.54 Nottingham – Aero Gift
*7.44 Nottingham – Clona King

Five open races at Nottingham kick off a new week. The feature is the Arena Racing Company Maiden Standard Final over 500m at 7.44.

Clona King is likely to go off a short price favourite from trap six having five railers drawn inside him. So, although well drawn and expected to win, he needs to do everything right as the 500 metre trip would be stretching him at this early stage in his career. He won well in the heats last week and as long as he leads his kennel mate Rebel Venus, he should follow up last week’s heat success by landing this Category three final.

There are two heats of a 480m competition at 8.54 and 9.11 where Aero Gift can land heat one from trap one. He is well drawn here and the shorter run to the bend can suit Richie Taberner’s charge who has been running well at Monmore and Perry Barr recently.

The nap of the evening runs in heat two where Velvet Madrid in trap one should dominate from an early stage. He wouldn’t be ideally drawn closest to the fence but he possesses plenty of early speed when trapping as well as he can so a slick exit can see Velvet Madrid lead and make all.

There are two sprints on the card where Ballymac Emo can get the better of recent rival Tex Brit to win the first sprint at 7.27 and Kylenoe Bilbo can reverse last weeks form with Time Counts by taking the second sprint at 8.19.

Crayford Review

Laughil Jess set a new personal best for the Crayford 540m trip on Sunday night.

There was a wait until the final race for her to run but Dave Lee’s star made it worth the wait, clocking 33.43. She’s a bitch who knows almost every grain of sand on the track like the back of her paw. To set a new PB after so many looks around there is a superb run.

Jason Gornall was responsible for the quickest 380m runner of the night, his Amys Gem producing a 23.18 effort. She is an October 22 puppy in just her 12th overall race. With a bottom line that goes back through Ballymac Razl and Blonde Slippy, she should give connections plenty of fun.

Tom Heilbron raided the Kent track again, his Untold Euro winning the opener in 23.24. Untold Kuna would double the tally with a 714m maiden success late on the card. Ricky Holloway won three contests with Four From Two, Imonlytwink and Razldazl Barkley.

The other winners on the evening were Burkos Dew Drop for Theresa Dornan, Princess Athena for Tony Collett, Epic Princess. for Julie Luckhurst, Barry O’Sullivan’s Harlequin Legal and Allison Kelly-Pilgrim’s Glengar Scholar.

East Anglian Derby updated prices

We are two days away from the semi-final stage.

The opening round of the East Anglian Derby provided some shocks last week. 18 remain ahead of the semis this week. These are the most common prices for each of the runners. We will be there broadcasting live on Gone To The Dogs.

7/2 Druids Say Go 6/1 Gary The Arb 7/1 Beaming Panther 8/1 Bombay Joker, Lion Heart, Swift Depot 10/1 Ballymac John, Millbank Boiler 16/1 Getup Me Son, Wrighty 20/1 Nowhere To Go 25/1 Murrow Inkosi 33/1 Bombay Zero, Bramble Linton, Newinn Sharky 40/1 Trumpers Bobcat, Whisky Eagle, 66/1 Vis A Vis

Perry Barr Trap Draws

The semi-final draws for the PGR St Leger and M Lambe Memorial Birmingham Cup were performed live this morning.

Stats

  • Racketball Ruth – 3.44 Sunderland – 3/4 from trap three in D3.
  • Emers Macie – 5.18 Sunderland – 8/13 in D2 grade when drawn in trap one.
  • Drumalee Holly – 7.11 Nottingham – 4/6 in A4 grade.
  • Papa Roy – 7.56 Yarmouth – 6/11 from trap four in A4s.

Opens

Wednesday: Yarmouth
Thursday: Swindon
Saturday: Perry Barr