Roswell Romanov extended his exceptional record over course and distance when landing the fastest first round heat of the Coral Coronation Cup over Romford’s 575m course on Friday night. The Mark Wallis trained black made it 12/19 with a 35.15 victory on normal going. But a tricky trap draw in the semis, and a fine debut by Boylesports Duke suggest it will be far from an easy passage.
Heat 1: The UK debut of Ricky Holloway’s Boylesports Duke (T6 6-4f) could hardly have gone better. The dog who has 28.49 525yd form at Limerick, and a 32.39 for 600yds at Shelbourne had impressed in trials and he produced a flawless front running performance – his 13.65 sectional was the night’s quickest – to beat kennelmate Razldazl Valiant (T4 10-1) by three and a half lengths in 35.32.
Heat 2: Willy Whitesocks went to trap as the 7-4f but the race would go to the durable TV Trophy finalist Spa Road Piper (T2 7-1). The race went ideally for Kevin Boon’s runner who slipstreamed early leader Ribble Aon (T1 4-1) and his other railing neighbour Millwards Master (T3 9-2) before showing his trademark guts to get home by a short head from the returning 2016 winner who will surely ‘come on a bundle’ for the outing. The winner’s time was was 35.52.
Heat 3: With two runners already beaten, Mark Wallis – who owns the Romford 575 trip – sent out his third and fourth participants in the third qualifier. In a race that developed into a buckle, it was first string Rubys Razzle (T1 11-10f) who came out on top. She bombed clear but found a tough opponent on her case in Oakfield Caesar (T6 3-1). The two Suffolkers remained inseparable for most of the last circuit before the stamina that has seen big brother Rubys Rascal through to ‘Cat 1’ success was again prevalent and she held on by a neck in 35.50.
Heat 4: The most competitive heat of the night went to the formbook with the forecast places shared by the two ‘Kevin’ 3-1 joint favourites. The dominant force was Kevin Hutton’s Office Flirt (T4 3-1jf) who was only troubled briefly going into the third bend before outstaying Kevin Boon’s Shaneboy Freddie (T1) by three and a half lengths in 35.42. Roswell Roxane was third.
Heat 5: The appearance of ante post favourite Roswell Romanov (T1 4-9f) lived entirely up to its hype. The night’s fastest winner did not break as well as usual – his 13.70 split was 21 spots adrift of his previous outing – but he was fortunate to be drawn on the rail and could power through on the inside. He was pursued for much of the race by Moreton Volare (T5 20-1) but when the Swindon runner appeared to run out of stamina, it was Murray’s Act who followed him home by a distant six and a half lengths.
Heat 6: The final qualifier finally produced a win for the locals – though it might not have been the one they were expecting. Bubbly Torpedo (T5 8-13f) dominated the market but not the race. He walked away, went second to early leader Be Majestic (T6 20-1) but could find no more and only held onto second place by a short head from the strong finishing Newlawn Simon (T2 7-1). The winning time was the slowest of the night, 35.96.
