Any suggestions that the ARC Northern Flat might descend into a Newcastle Kennel Sweepstake were summarily dismissed within two heats on Tuesday night.
Although Tom Heilbron’s Freedom Sky picked up the first heat in what would prove to be the fastest time of the night, there were only two locals among the six winners, a feat equaled by East Lothian based George Cunningham who saw all four of his entries qualify.
Overall, it was a very tightly contested first round with only 13 spots between the six winners and only 38 spots between all 18 qualifiers.
The shock of the night was the defeat of Jaguar Macie though the dual Cat One winner lost nothing in defeat have been forced to check when making her third bend challenge on Potent Touch before being force to run around him on the run-in.
Semi final draw to follow
