Three stories dominate the GMG Oaks semi finals on Friday night.
1) The elimination of third favourite Jumeirah Charm. 2) The influence of going conditions on both results 3) The competitive nature of the final with three runners qualifying within seven spots of each other.
The first semi was expected to be dominated by traps 1-3-6. Shortest of the trio was Irish entry Jumeirah Charm (T1 5-4f) with Ballydoyle Maura (T3 5-2) and Donation (T6 5-2). Look out too for the early paced Princess Aurora (T5 8-1) and the strong finish of Swift Lucious (T4 12-1).
The result showed Donation (Droopys Cain-Delightful Flyer, Jun 15) beating Maura by a length and a quarter in 28.13 on going rated (-50). The battle for third – a length and three quarters back – saw Swift Lucious prevail by a short head over the unlucky Aurora. It was Donation’s 12th win in 17 UK opens.
The second semi went (almost) exactly to form with the first two in the betting, Jumeirah Lolls (T2 7-4f) and Wuheida (T1 2-1) dominating events.
The result showed that Wuheida (Head Bound-Droopys Thrill, Jan 16) had prevailed by a short head in 28.06 (-50) with Sylvias Chloe (T3 5-1) beaten 3½ lengths into third, with a neck to spare over Tyrur Emily (T4 5-1). It was an eighth win in 12 races for Phil Simmonds’ pup.
All footage courtesy of GreyhoundsNow
