Despite a career ending injury for the brilliant Smallmead, the first round of the 2021 Coral Champion Stakes produced an exciting night’s racing.
The John Mullins trained Smallmead had a rough ride in the tough fourth heat and was discovered to have broken a hock at the end of the race. Her trainer was philosophical about the injury.
He said: “Before anyone starts, it was nothing to do with the track, it was in good condition. It was a racing injury pure and simple. Smallmead was was looked after by Stefano (Malegori) the vet who did a great job in strapping her up. She will be fine and we now look forward to producing some stunning pups out of her.
“I also want to make a point about the track covering the vets bills. I remember Yarmouth started doing it a long time ago and the others have followed suit. I think it is a fabulous move forward and Romford should be commended for what they have done.”
The star of the night was ante post favourite Warzone Tom. While Liz McNair and her staff are on holiday in Spain, Tom has been handled by former Bolton handler David Laird who oversaw the dog’s 35.03 run.
The night’s first winner, Bombardier, was the subject of some ‘out on a limb’ laying by bookies Bresbet. In fact, although Bombardier drifted from odds-on to 11-8, he won like a good thing.
Bresbet’s Sam Tweed said: “We stuck our necks out and decided to take on Bombardier all day, including a boost way above industry price in the afternoon. We know how classy he is, but thought the race would be messy, and he’d have to do it the hard way! But he managed to find a position and we knew our fate when the five and six bumped at the third bend.
“We stuck to our promise of 110% or lower (As low as 106% some races) at the starting time. We laid some big bets on Kishlawn Shakira ante post, and she was another who benefited from trouble to land her heat. The other races were up and down and there wasn’t too much in the battle between punter and bookmaker by the end of the night.”
