Droopys Buick banished one of his ghosts of 2016 by landing the 2017 Ladbrokes Gold Cup at Monmore on Thursday.
The previous year’s beaten favourite returned to the West Midlands, again went to traps as the 5-4f, but this time made no mistakes with a flawless front running performance.
In the first round, Buick had missed the break (4.51 sect) and found his passage blocked by Forest Chunk (4.42). Although Buick had gone quicker in the semis (4.37 against 4.40), Chunk’s final draw (T2) one box inside the favourite, had a number of punters running scared.
When it mattered though, Buick bombed away in his best style (4.34) leaving Kevin Hutton’s slow trapping Chunk (4.48) in his slipstream. With the red jacketed Savana Donie running much to form (4.43, 4.42, & 4.44 in the decider), Angela Harrison’s runner dominated from the front and crossed the winning line in 27.63 (TR 27.48), the fastest of his ten runs over course distance, just three months short of his fourth birthday.
| LADBROKES GOLD CUP Monmore 480m £12,500 August 17 |
| 1. DROOPYS BUICK (Yeah Man-Droopys Hilda) (T3) 5-4f |
| 2. SAVANA DONIE (Ballymac Vic-Blackwater Bride) (T1) 5-1 |
| 3. MAGLASS RAZZLE (Razldazl George-Hollys Secret) (T6) 12-1 |
| 4. FOREST CHUNK (Tullymurry Act-Forest May) (T2) 5-2 |
| 5. THE OTHER REG (Razldazl Jayfkay-The Other Peach) (T4) 5-1 |
| 6. THE OTHER BEN (Razldazl Jayfkay-The Other Peach) (T5) 10-1 |
| 27.63 (N) 4¾, 2¾, hd, 3½, sh |
| Owner: The Conlon Family Trainer: Angela Harrison |
Gold Cup winner Droopys Buick with Angela Harrison and Jimmy Wright. Photo: © Steve Nash
Locally trained Buckos Lass produced the biggest shock of the night in the Summer Stayers Classic Final for Corren Price.
The 16-1 chance, whose three most recent run over the course and distance were clocked at 38.11, 38.08 and 38.09 produced one of her better breaks and left the more celebrated stars to make their own mistakes.
Favourite Swift Hansel found himself crowded out early, while fastest qualifier Geelo Monty found himself in last place early. Carl Perry’s runner produced a stunning performance to squeeze past Hansel on the run-in but he was still a black neck behind the popular winner who clocked a career best 38.00.
| LADBROKES SUMMER STAYERS CLASSIC |
| Monmore 630m £7,500 August 17 |
| 1. BUCKOS LASS (Kinloch Brae-Paradise Siesta) (T2) 16-1 |
| 2. GEELO MONTY (Ballymac Eske-Macys Perfect) (T5) 5-2 |
| 3. SWIFT HANSEL (Godsend-Swift Approach) (T3) 4-5f |
| 4. JETSTREAM LYNX (Zero Ten-Allen Harbour) (T6) 7-2 |
| 5. SPA ROAD PIPER (Godsend-Liscahane Frisky) (T1) 16-1 |
| 6. NEWINN BLITZ (Kinloch Brae-Any Time Again) (T4) 12-1 |
| 38.00 (N) nk, sh, 1½, sh, 4½, |
| Owner & trainer: Corren Price |
BUCKOS LASS (t2) wins the Ladbrokes Summer Stayers Final. Photo: © Steve Nash
The Gentleman George Curtis Trafalgar Cup Final saw British bred King Elvis complete an eight-timer for Liz McNair.
Off a 4.33 sectional – one spot quicker than Droopys Buick – the 4-6f utterly dominate the puppy event and came home four clear of Glanore Diego in 27.96.
| GENTLEMAN GEORGE CURTIS TRAFALGAR CUP |
| Monmore 480m £2,000 August 17 |
| 1. KING ELVIS (Tullymurry Act-Skate On) (T3) 4-6f |
| 2. GLENANORE DIEGO (Scolari Me Daddy-Glenanore Fly) (T6) 6-1 |
| 3. DROOPYS ROB (Tullymurry Act-Greenwell Mo) (T2) 6-1 |
| 4. ASHBANK CHRISTY (Scolari Me Daddy-Droopys Valerie) (T5) 3-1 |
| 5. KEPLAR SIX (Crash-Dogstown Lucy) (T1) 12-1 |
| 6. DROOPYS AUSSIE (Loughteen Blanco-Droopys Force) (T4) 14-1 |
| 27.96 (N) 4, 1½, 1, 2, 2 |
| Owner: KSS Syndicate Trainer: Liz McNair |
A top class support card featured a couple of outstanding performances headed by a new 835m track record for Slick Strauss (Tullymurry Act-Slick Sapphire, May 14).
Patrick Janssens’ 10-11f led from box to beam in a time of 51.00, some 25 spots inside Bubbly Time’s previous best. It was a good night for the Norfolk handler who also landed a puppy open with March On Poppie (Ballymac Vic-Pots And Pans, Sep 15).
There was also an impressive double for Derby winning trainer Seamus Cahill. It was headed by the Derby winner’s brother Karlow Turbo (Kinoch Brae-China Doll, Aug 14) who is in the form of his career.
Contesting the 684m open, the 9-4 chance was never troubled when beating Keplar Nine by over four lengths in 40.69 (N), just nine spots off Centaur Corker’s 14 year old track record which was recorded on +60 going. It was Turbo’s fifth win in his last six races and he must now rate as the country’s no.1 stayer.
The Cahill double came courtesy of former Ladbrokes Puppy Derby winner Forest Con (Ballymac Vic-Droopys Danneel, May 15) in a supporting 480. Brilliantly fast, but inconsistent at the boxes, the brindle was back to his best to clock 27.77 – off a 4.35 sectional.
