Gallant Star impresses at Nottingham on Monday
Monday saw just four opens at Nottingham, three of those sprint contests where Gallant Star's performance stood out amongst the others.
Gallant stars at Nottingham
Three of the four opens at Nottingham last night were over the 305m distance, with the pick of the performances coming from Philip Short's Gallant Star. It was a £500 final after the heats last week, following up her win on that occasion with a superb display of front-running speed and power.
In a field that contained the likes of Newinn Bachelor, Born Racer and Yahoo Megan, to come out on top so comfortably marks her down as a smart type. She has won six of her 10 starts since arriving from Ireland, the first two for Richard Baker and the other four for Short.
Jason Gray's No Dreamers had looked a type to keep onside in trials, and although things didn't go her way on her race debut for Gray, she quickly made up for that dropped into a sprint. She had the race already in safekeeping at the opening bend when there was plenty of trouble behind her. She is another who looks a nice recruit.
The first sprint open on the evening looked a match on paper between the top and bottom on the card, with the market speaking stronger for Whiterock Ace for Mark Russell. The money got it absolutely spot on as the September pup picked up his main market rival up the straight .
Loveland picked up the only 500m open on the night, representing Robert Short. She got the better of a dual to the bend with her main market rival and having turned in front, she never looked like she was going to come back to the field. She has been a solid grader at both Swindon and Dunstall Park, grabbing her first open race win at just the second attempt.
