Rubys Razzle put herself in prime position to bring more joy to the Wallis Kennel when landing the quickest of the three 645m Prestige heats at Hall Green.
The opening heat was dominated for two bends by Acomb Ruby (T2 5-2) who was pursued and passed by Kevin Hutton’s Henlow Leger finalist Mad For It (T1 5-1). They actually finished in that order though not before Bang On Giles (T3 4-1) had seen his claim shut down at the fifth bend and Geelo Bullet (T5 4-1) had looked safe for a place before being outstayed. Favourite Slick Straus was never closer than fourth. The winner’s time was 39.66 and the distance, three and a half.
The second semi was the main act though a cursory glance of the result would give a very distorted view of the race. It is true that Rubys Razzle (T1 11-8f) justified her SP though there were unlucky stories, not least that of Bubble Express (T3 9-2) who timed his overtake at precisely the same inopportune spot as Bang On Giles in the previous heat, and came equally unstuck.
In the meantime, Razldazl Allstar, who had looked an ‘also ran’ for the first circuit – he was half a second behind the leader at the split – turned on the burners and failed by just half a length to catch the leader though he did ‘short head’ Bubbly Express for second. The winner, a kennelmate of recent Coronation Cup victor Roswell Romanov was timed at 39.49.
The third qualifier was dominated by two litter sisters, Trapper Kerry (T1 6-1) and Trapper Kate (T3 14-1) at the expense of two brothers Diego Flight (T4 9-4jf) and Ferryforth Fran (T6 9-4jf). The early part of the race was dominated by Droopys Dart (T5 5-1) and Eske Champ (T2 11-4) with eventual winner Trapper Kerry in last place.
But the race only developed after a circuit as the two Angie Kibble trained sister honed in on the leaders and gave a locally learned exhibition on how to run the fifth bend. They came home separated by a head in a time of 39.67.
Trap draw for Wednesday’s final 1 Acomb Ruby (9-2), 2 Trapper Kate (12-1), 3 Trapper Kerry (8-1), 4 Mad For It ()8-1, 5 Rubys Razzle (13-8) 6 Razldazl Allstar (2-1)