Friday Night Open Report- Luka simply Magical in stunning Romford display

Friday Night Open Report- Luka simply Magical in stunning Romford display

Magical Luka produces a stunning performance as part of Hutton double at Romford, while Heilbron and Soppitt also land doubles at Sunderland

Chris Oliver spoke to trainer Kevin Hutton on Thursday about Magical Luka with Hutton saying that “He is top class, there is no doubt in my mind at all. His form in Ireland, and what we have seen so far, is excellent”

 “For a puppy to go to Romford first time and do the sectional (3.58) and the 23.53 (+10) in his trial just oozes class"

 “He’s an exceptional puppy and hopefully he goes to have a great career – he could be a real superstar.”

Based on Magical Luka’s performance tonight, Hutton isn’t wrong, and it is hard to envisage defeat for him in the forthcoming Romford Puppy Cup, starting next Friday

Having produced a lively 3.60 sectional which saw him three lengths clear of his rivals crossing the line for the first time, the 1/6F just powered clear of his rivals in an awesome display of front running, stopping the clock at 23.51 for an eight length victory and the Romford Puppy Cup looks a stepping stone to bigger and better things later on in his career.

That victory was part of a double on the night for Hutton as Union Rebel, who himself has Category One success at Romford having landed the Golden Sprint earlier in the year, also made all the running, coming home a length and a quarter clear of Brindle Bully in 23.83 at odds of 10/11F

It wasn’t just Hutton though who landed a double on the card as Paul Young also bagged a brace.

Bacardi Bullet overcame trouble in running on multiple occasions when getting the better of Savana Cosmic by half a length in a six bend maiden contest in a time of 35.85 at 11/8, while later on in the card, Yahoo Mareike trapped well and made all the running to land the Tony Williams Dual Distance Final also over 575m by a short head in 35.66 at 2/1.

Elsewhere on the card, Coronation Cup winner Fabulous Sonique made it six wins in a row over the 575m course at the Essex track for trainer Mark Wallis as she produced another front running display as the 6/5F recorded a four length victory from Seamus Cahill’s Missile One in a time of 35.18

Another wide margin winner on the card was the Michelle Brown trained Gothic Kitty, who followed up last week’s win over the 750m course with another all the way victory over the same distance. Sent off as 8/11F, she was never in any danger as she built up an early lead and drew clear of her rivals in a time of 47.24 for a six and three quarter length victory.

There was only three quarters of a length between the opening three four bend contests, with March On Luna (11/4) taking the opening contest in 24.31 for Craig Morris, Piemans Goalie (11/10F) making all the running for Dave Mullins in 24.30 and Ted On Fire (4/1), proving too strong in the later stages for the front running Jazzy George off the final bend in a trial stakes of the Coral Romford Puppy Cup, when recording victory in 24.36.

Maxine Locke’s Jacktavern Don produced an impressive front running display when running out a five length winner of his maiden contest in 23.84 at odds of 9/2. That was an improvement on his previous outings and could be one to keep an eye on in the coming weeks

One of the closest finishes of the night came in the 225m sprint contest as Nathan Hunt’s Teaboy Brownie pinged the lids and made all the running but had to hold off the attentions of Tullymurry Dylan to record a victory in 13.50, with the 6/4F winning by a head.

If punters weren’t ahead by the time the “Getting out of trouble” stakes came around at 9.46pm, the chances are that Ricky Holloway’s Dazl Hermes wouldn’t have helped their cause as he provided the biggest shock of the evening when making all the running to score by three quarters of a length at 8/1 in a time of 35.59, finishing ahead of the more fancied Bacon Frazzles and Whitewood Libre in doing so.

Heilbron and Soppitt at the double at Sunderland 

 Seven Opens featured on Sunderland's 12 race card on Friday night, with Tom Heilbron and Ted Soppitt each returning back to their kennels having landed a double on the card.

Heilbron landed Heats One and Three of the Arena Racing Company, with the first two runners qualifying for next week's final. 

Heat one went the way of his Deerjet Rocket (10/3) who took up the lead off the final bend to record a neck victory over Yvonne Bell's Aulton Jim in 27.23, while Heat three went the way of Innfield Storm, with the 5/1 shot battling well to get the better of Chloe Hardy's Unanimous Kai in 27.17.

However, it was the first leg of Soppitt's double, Sunnyside Gurkha, who recorded the fastest time of the three heats, when leading round the opening bends to record a length and a quarter victory from Ryan Buckton's Whitehills Titan, with the 10/11F recording a time of 26.83 and surely looks the one to beat in next week's final.

Soppitt's double arrived later on in the card when his Sunnyside Jayden lowered the colours of the in-form and short priced favourite Stonepark Hoffa in the final of the Arena Racing Company Sprint over 261m, making all the running to score by a length and three quarters in a time of 15.54 at odds of 9/4 to take home the £500 prize. 

Also taking home £500 was local trainer Dean Blackbird, as his runner Emers Bean pinged the lids and made all the running to land the Arena Racing Company Standard Bitches final over 450m by three and three quarter lengths, with the 7/4F stopping the clock in 27.02

The remaining couple of opens on the card also went the way of the favourites. Simon Deakin's King Bono was an all the way winner of the sprint contest over 261m, with the 5/4F recording a two and a half length victory in 15.56, while another 5/4F, Paul Miller's Falling Star also made all the running over the four bend 450m trip and also recorded a two and a half length victory in a time of 27.07