Elusivenomore causes Sheffield Gymcrack surprise

Elusivenomore causes Sheffield Gymcrack surprise

Newcastle Trainer Jimmy Fenwick endured a mixed 20 minutes or so on Sunday Afternoon with two of his kennel stars. Having finished last in the Time Greyhound Nutrition Juvenile at Towcester with Wicky Ned, just under 20 minutes later Elusivenomore landed the final of the BresBet Gymcrack final at Sheffield with the £17,500 prize winging it’s way back up to the North East.

Much of the talk pre-race centred around the four Patrick Janssens runners as between them, they had won all the three previous Heats and two Semi Final’s, and when the traps opened and the favourite Droopys Trade gained an early lead, then it looked as though Janssens would be in line to claim the race.

However Elusivenomore clearly hadn’t read the script, and when Droopys Trade took a bump from trouble which occurred behind him at the bend, the Fenwick runner, who had made a bee-line for the rails just prior to the opening bend having endured a little trouble himself when Droopys Trade moved off across him in the early stages, was able to sneak inside the leader and was able to build up a 3 length lead. Droopys Trade and Romeo Tomcat set off after the leading but were unable to reel him in, with Romeo Tomcat reducing the margin to 2 lengths as the winner crossed the line in a time of 29.36, a time an indication of the trouble rounding the opening bends.

Joint owner of the winner Dave Lawrence said “I’m delighted, he took his chance bravely at the bend and once in front, I knew he wouldn’t get caught”

It was a case of having to settle for runner up in both big races for Janssens though as Droopys Plunge ran a cracking race in the Time Greyhound Nutrition Juvenile at Towcester, but had earlier been on the mark with Romeo Steel (1/5F) when taking the final of the Owlerton Stadium Standard, showing searing early pace and soon built up a healthy lead, crossing the line 5 lengths clear of the rest in a quick 28.69, the fourth fastest time this year, not quite managing to improve on his previous fastest time. He could be one to watch at Towcester if able to repeat that sort of performance.

Favourite backers would have been on good terms with themselves though with five of the seven Opens going the way of the jollies, two of which went the way of Rose Draper, who landed a treble on the card when taking three of the last four races on the card. Rocking Taylor (6/5) made all the running over 280m by 1 ¾ lengths in 15.96, while Ellanne Best (11/10F) recorded a slightly slower time of 16.01, winning by 1 ½ lengths. The hat-trick arrived in the finale when Distant Flow (1/2F) trapped well and made all the running over 500m by 2 ¾ lengths in 28.98

Both 480m contests were won in impressive all the way fashion with Steve Naylor’s Noharminthat (10/11F) running out a 7 ¼ length winner when stopping the clock in 27.86, while Good Knick (4/7F), trained by Sean Davy went slightly quicker when scoring by 2 ¾ lengths in a time of 27.78

Maloney lands Star Pelaw feature race

Just the five Opens on the card at Star Pelaw on Sunday Evening, the highlight of which was the Star Sports Sprint Competition Final over 245m and it went the way of Matthew Wilson’s in-form runner Bitzer Maloney (2/1), who got the better of some early bumping rounding the opening bends to stay on well at the finish and land the £500 prize, crossing the line ¾ of a length in front in a cracking time of 14.38 (+5), the joint fastest time of the year over that distance, and making it four wins in his last five starts in doing so.

Newcastle trainer Savva Roberts has been in good form when making his Sunday night raids to Star Pelaw in recent weeks and he landed a double on the card when Annadown Spot (11/1) pinged the lids and made all the running over 245m in a time of 14.57, while the double was landed courtesy of Tonelagee (13/8), who followed up last week’s victory over course and distance when winning by 3 ½ lengths, matching that winning time of 25.75.

Christopher Harker’s Lynnia Ranger (8/11F) was the only winning favourite from those five Open’s when winning over 435m by 1 ¾ lengths in 25.99, while Glenvale Bjorn (11/2) was a good winner over the six bend 590m distance when running out a comfortable winner by 5 ¼ lengths in 36.29 for trainer Michael Sillars