Making Paper, who went out of the English Derby in a photo finish, demonstrated that he still has the class to mix it with the best at Nottingham on Monday.
Diane Henry’s 4-7f broke pretty much as expected and led his field to the first bend in the heats of a decent class 500m sweepstake. Once clear, the 2015 Derby finalist was never going to be caught and he duly led home Fit Right by more than four lengths in 29.47 (+50), the fastest time of the year to date.
Next quickest on the clock was Charlie Lister’s 6-4f Oscar Junior (Droopys Oscar-Droopys Danneel, May 14) who could not have been more impressive. After rocketing away in a 4.94 sectional, the young black held off kennelmate Cribb by a comfortable four and a bit in 29.56 (+50)
The other qualifier went to Hove raider Tadys Robin (Broadstrand Lad-Droopys Indi, Jun 12). Claude Gardiner’s 4-5f led home kennelmate Zulu Baran by three and a bit in 29.73 (+50).
Blissful Scolari (Droopys Scolari-Little Flame, Jun 14) was an impressive winner of the puppy stake. Despite taking a very wide course, the big black covered the 500m when beating Colins Peace by six lengths in 29.63 (+50).
The meeting also featured the fastest two 680 metre races of the year so far. The fact that that record fell to Borna Mindy (Westmead Hawk-Borna Client, Jul 13) would have come as no surprise given her recent form. The Diane Henry trained black (4-6f) clocked 41.31 (+50) when beating Alma Prince by five lengths.
However that time was surpassed by Oneco Melissa (Cabra Cool-Hawks Hill Lulu, Apr 13) who slammed Manic Pellegrini by more than 10 lengths in 41.16 (+50) – just 10 spots outside Fabulous Shanty’s track record.
The pair meet in next week’s 730m
