Copney Queen heads the Gymcrack semis while Lennies Eddie is best at Towcester

Photos Rob Crawford

Copney Queen quickest in Gymcrack again

Just six spots covered the winners of the three semi-finals of the Bet St George Gimcrack at Sheffield on Sunday afternoon, with Copney Queen just going fastest for John Flaherty. She had done the same in the opening round, clocking the pick of the times with a 28.79, running riot in her semi by seven and a half lengths, chased home by Romeo Arran for Patrick Janssens.

A smart impression had been left by the British debut of Sean Parker's Annadown Shadow last week, and he was also a wide-margin winner, coming home five and a half lengths to the good over Susan Watson's Droopys Typical who just grabbed second by a short head. 28.81 was the winning time. 

Although Jimmy Fenwick's Woltemade was the slowest of the three semi-final winners, he produced a 28.85 to stand up alongside the other pair. His 4.25 split was the quickest of any of the qualifiers, chased home by Rose Draper's Harton Whirlwind.

Fenwick picked up a double on the card with a win for Howay Tonali in the final race. He had been turned over on his first look at the track last week but put that experience to good use with a smart front-running display to clock the top time on the card over 500m. 

There was also a double for Michelle Brown who saw Roanna Mamba back up his win from seven days prior. He had to dig deep as he was challenged the entire way by Droopys Will who made sure that the winner had to keep finding all the way to the line.

A Gymcrack bid had been derailed early on last week for Gothic Abbess but she got back on the winning trail after a much slicker exit. Don't forget that Brown is running the London Marathon next week so if you have backed any recent winners for the kennel (or even if you haven't), you can donate here. 

Nine of the 10 opens/invitationals went to the market leader, the shortest of which was Romeo Ability for Janssens. He was not the sharpest into stride but quickly found himself in control of the race around the opening couple of bends.

The only one that didn't see a winning favourite was won by Robert Copping's Snazzy Bolger. An Enniscorthy winner in a decent time last December, this was only his third start for Copping, winning an A2 at Yarmouth in his start prior to this.

There was a fourth win on the bounce for Romeo Cobra who has hit form in no uncertain manner for Kelly Hodson. The first two of those came in A2 races over 500m with last week and this over the 480m distance.

Another sprint on the card was won by Diane Cross's Blow Out. The pup was a D1 scorer back in March before running over three different trips in invitational events. 

Lennies Eddie tops Towcester times

Nine Star Sports and Orchestrate Ltd English Greyhound Derby trial stakes were the highlight of the card at Towcester where Paul Hennessy's Lennies Eddie was the quickest of the winners on the afternoon. He had just managed to get to the front at the opening turn before carnage saw Faypoint Harvery go over and Santas Amigo suffer an injury. He powered clear in style to land the money.

A win for Zenith Jimbombom may not have been much consolation for David Mullins after Santas Amigo but he was the only other winner to dip under 29 seconds on the day. It was an impressive performance from the front to beat a decent field.

Gaytime Joachim got it right at the third time of asking for Graham Holland, just doing enough to see off the persistent challenge of Maxine Locke's Ballymac Axel. He would not appear to be one of the team's stronger chances at this stage but he is a huge unit and lightly-raced, so he gives the impression that there should be more to come from him.

The final trial stake of the afternoon went to Mike Burton's Carrick Scholsey. He has not quite hit the same heights over here as he did when trained in Ireland but this was a notable step back in the right direction, making it 2/2 at the track. He stays further and could be the type to get through a few rounds.

This Approach was a big money purchase from the Derby sales at the end of March, joining Ricky Holloway. He was a wide-margin scorer on his UK debut, quickly in control of his rivals. It was a promising start for a dog who clocked 28.22 at Limerick on his race debut.

Richard Rees was on the board courtesy of Dereks Legend. There was a strong battle for the lead here with Bockos Buster and Lennies Dynamic perhaps softening one another up for a stronger finisher to grab them late on. Credit to the winner though, he is another who boasts form over further and has finished in the first three in 10 of his 12 starts.

The opening trial stake went to Heather Dimmock and Dunbolg Formula who came out of a messy first bend with an advantage. He has been enjoying a good spell, winning half of his last 12 races which included a hat-trick over the 480m trip at Sheffield. 

Afzal Ali has found a more suitable track for Hackney Toast who has taken his form up a level now that he can stretch his legs. He was an A4 performer at Oxford but is a cut above that at Towcester, brave at the opening bend to take control of the inside and kick clear down the back.

The other trial stake winner on the afternoon was Fabulous Glance for Laurence Tuffin. She has plenty of experience of this track, leading up from the opening strides and finding enough to hold off the late charge of Java Joan. 

There were plenty of trials ahead of racing with Derby clues, with the entries closing this evening at 7pm.

Valley doubles for Davy and Jeffrey

Five opens at The Valley saw doubles for both Donna Davy and Anna Jeffery. Performance of the day came from Fastlane George in a sprint, clocking an impressive 15.75 for Davy, the second quickest time of the year over the 260m. 

Droopys Nijinsky has been a regular scorer for the Davy kennel, landing his sixth win from his last seven starts with a victory over 460m. This was the second of those that was in open race company.

Jeffrey's pair also came one apiece over two and four bends. Burkos Buster was the winner over two bends, getting himself to the front late on to grab his own kennelmate No Dont Panic.

Over 460m, it was Rockmount Polly who picked up the win where a short head and a short head separated the first three home. It was the first open race win of her career, on the cusp of becoming a veteran next month. 

Christian Darch grabbed the other open winner on the card with Burkos Delaney. He showed the best early gears to add to a sprinting win in an open gained at this track last summer.