QUARTER FINALS

(All times are digitally recorded to a set spot near the third bend and are ‘actual times’ with no allowance for going)

 

While not many people will have imagined the near veteran stayer Priceless Jet breaking the Towcester 500 metre record, the number would probably have been even fewer predicting that the Paul Hennessy trained runner would also produce the fastest clock to halfway.

But his 15.52 run in the first half was actually two spots quicker than Lautaro’s when he set the 28.84 clock in the opening round (and five spots better than Ballinabola Ed’s quickest). Jet’s 15.89 first round run put him in 62nd place from the 96 qualifiers. Magico fared even worse, only eight hounds were slower. Meanwhile the early paced Signet Goofy was only third to the same landmark despite producing his fastest ‘first half’ to date.

At the other end of the scale, Savana Beau produced his fourth run to within less than a length to the same spot.

 

Perhaps just as surprising in its own way was the ‘triple dead heat’ for the second half of the race.

Jet, kennelmate Hello Hammond and the veteran Faughan Rebel all produced their fastest runs in that section to date. While faster going must have played its part, as the chart below will show, it wasn’t a huge factor with the metronomic Savana Beau once again producing four runs within seven spots.

 

Before producing the full table of comparative times over all four rounds, we have once again produced our ‘perfect run’ table.

It is pure fantasy based on stitching together each runner’s ‘fastest two halves’. It looks like this:

 

 

And of course, a breakdown of the entire competition to date for the last dozen still standing