Roxholme Hat produced one of the performances of his career to land the Bapp Group of Companies Scurry Cup Final at Belle Vue on Saturday.
Despite the reservations of the kennel over the trap draw, the evens favourite absolutely dominated the 260m decider from trap to line which he crossed with four lengths to spare in 14.82. Although the winner’s time was four spots outside Trapstyle Jet’s track record, the track was rated as being .15 slow.
Assistant trainer Mark Keightley said: “I am not sure we’ve ever had a better sprint performance from this kennel, with the possible exception of a run from Target Harris. I thought he showed outstanding trapping, early pace, and stayed on well, in what was, lets face, a very high class field.
“The plan now is to go to Shelbourne for the Night Of Stars with the long term aim being the National Sprint. We will take him along for a couple of trials and watch how he goes to the bend from behind the traps and then decide on his seeding.”
It was a mixed night for the kennel with brothers Roxholme Ray and Roxholme Leonard both coming off lame in the final of the Bapp Group of Companies Northern Flat.
Keightley said: “Leonard came off with a broken metacarpel, Ray pulled a shoulder muscle and will require a short break.”
The £1,000 decider was won by Elaine Parker’s ultra consistent Dropzone (Sh Avatar-Bonus, Jul 15). Running from trap four, the 27.54 heat winner, and 6-4f, beat Swift Melampe in 28.10 (-10). His career record reads: 19 races, 13 wins, 4 seconds, 2 thirds.
