Ability wins the battle of the brothers to claim Produce quickest

Romeo Ability and Alliance both safely into the Produce last 12

The clash of the litter brothers in the second of the quarter-final heats of the BGBF Produce Stakes on Saturday afternoon was the battle of the day on paper. Romeo Alliance had no issues overcoming his wider than normal draw in the striped jacket of six but he was fighting a losing battle when it came to containing his brother. 

Romeo Ability had come away running, turned in front and made every yard with 27.84 the winning time. He put two and three-quarter lengths into his brother who was himself a long way clear of Pin Position in third. The Patrick Janssens-trained pair are going to be very hard to stop in this competition with Alliance looking for a third Category One win, and Ability his first.

Second fastest time on the afternoon went to Angie Kibble's Eagles Respect, winning in 28.01. In a heat where he had the two quickest sectionals of the afternoon to chase, the race worked out perfectly for the powerful tracker. By Aussie superstar Tommy Shelby out of a 649m Swindon open race winner, he clearly has inherited the best parts of both his parents. Signet Nayla and Dreamin Ringo also went through.

There was a gap of 60 spots behind Romeo Ability to find Malcolm Bosh winning his heat for Kibble. A litter brother of Eagles Respect, the pair have not got the reputation of the Romeo duo but clearly have plenty of talent. Like his brother, he did the best of his work late to come out on top in the final strides in 28.44. The other two qualifying spots went to Coppice Esme and Berties Decision.

Izzys Tenpin had been available at 4/1 around lunchtime but he was backed into 7/4 come the off and justified the money with a comfortable success for David Mullins. Taking things up at the third bend, he stretched clear to land a 28.46 success with Shes One Eighty and Coppice Freedom filling out the qualifying places.

The other open on the card was a sprint contest which was won by Signet Harper for Luke Morrison. The 2024 Grand National winner missed action from January to August but she got back up on the line to beat her kennelmate Harlequin Ernie after he had slipped up her inside at the opening turn.