There were almost four months between Making Paper’s last victory and his most recent, but Diane Henry’s English Derby finalist looked back to his best when landing the fastest heat of the RPGTV Henlow Derby last night.
Racing from red for the first time in his career, the former middle seed was headed to the bend by King Alley but then stormed into the lead and pulled away to win by nearly eight lengths in 27.16, just 11 spots outside the 460 metre track record.
It was his sixth outing since going lame in the Dundalk International and his first win since his 28.33 victory in the William Hill Derby semi finals.
Next quickest on the clock was another runner searching for form, Liz McNair’s Tralee Juvenile Classic semi finalist Fire Height Tosh.
Racing for only the second time since being eliminated from the Derby, the fawn reeled in Droopys Cairns by the third bend and held off local champ Blackrose Vic by a couple in 27.28.
Recent Maiden Derby winner Charity Buster made it six wins from seven outings in 27.40, an identical clocking to Golden Sprint winner You Never Listen in the preceding heat.
There was also a 32-1 double for Kevin Hutton with Face The Blade (27.43) and El Lema (27.58).
It was a bad night for Team Cahill with both Southfield Jock (4-7f) and Ballymac Brogan (2-1f) both eliminated.
