Jackierua continues Nottingham progression for Gray
There were just four opens at Nottingham on Monday night but there was an impressive win from Jason Gray's Jackierua which stood out as the performance of the night.
Three in a row for Jackierua at Nottingham
Jackierua was successful in starts at both Cork and Youghal in Ireland before arriving at Jason Gray's kennels where he has clearly settled in quickly, making a perfect 3/3 start to life at Nottingham. The first two of those were graded contests, taking the step up into open company in his stride last night. The September puppy popped out in front, and those who had heavily supported him in the betting to score never had a moment of worry, coming home six and three-quarters clear of his nearest rival.
He was the quicker of the two 480m maiden heats by 60 spots which is no mean feat given that Jacktavern Ringo who won the other is not a bad type for Adam Sear, showing plenty of promise in limited action. He too was quickest to stride and was soon in control of proceedings to get the better of a once-raced pup of Patrick Janssens.
That kennel were on target in the sprint with Yahoo Megan who out trapped her main danger on the inside of her in Born Racer and that was enough to see her slip around the opening bend in front and hold off that rival by a head. It was open race win number 40 in the career of the veteran, with a record of 42/86 overall.
Janssens was out of luck in the other open on the card as well as Romeo Ability led up but then surprisingly lost four lengths to Carol Weatherall's Zappa during the second half of the back straight, going two and a half down before closing the winner back up to a length at the line. That said, the winner Zappa is a smart type in his own right, finally getting his head in front away from Towcester at the ninth time of asking.
