Mongys goes quickest in the Cesarewitch

Mongys goes Wild at Central Park

The first round heats of the Arena Racing Company Cesarewitch did not disappoint on Saturday night. Mongys Wild was the ante-post favourite for the competition ahead of the off and he got things off to a flying start with his victory in heat one, clocking 44.55. 

He had a great second hare to chase in Ballymac Madgie who has been running supremely well in recent weeks for Shaun Gresham. She took them along early off a smart 16.41 split but Mark Wallis's super stayer was never far behind her and got on top when she drifted off the inside rounding the final two bends.

Just three spots covered the other big names to pick up a win in the opening round with Droopys Flare just the quicker of the pair in 45.07. She was relatively untroubled in her bid to make the final for the second consecutive year, making the semis by running out the widest margin winner of the night by four and a half lengths for Sean Parker. 

Patrick Janssens had Romeo Empire on top in heat three, holding off Michelle Brown's Crafty Prospero by half a length in 45.10. A missed break didn't help the winner, trying this trip for the first time, pulling out just enough to claim the victory over a very strong runner. The big loss for the competition was dual champion Garfiney Blaze missing his heat. 

The fourth and final heat lacked the star quality of the prior three, won by Nick Carter's Burgess Sophia in 45.65. She got on top late in the day to pick up George Andreas's Aphantasia who had taken up the lead after Maxine Locke's Two Spot suffered an injury. 

On the undercard there was an open race double for Mick Mavrias, who also picked up the winner of the sole graded race on the night. Mavrias only had a single open race winner in 2025, so it was nice to see the Central Park stalwart pick up a pair courtesy of Droopys Topnotch and Tullymurry Getgo. The former is a July 24 pup, so there should be opens to come with him while the latter has just turned a veteran and caused the biggest shock of the night at 33/1. 

There was a sprint double for Michelle Brown with Roanna Mamba and Pro Parker both proving too fleet of foot for their rivals. Roanna Mamba has won eight of his last 10 starts now, making the semis of the National Sprint, knocked out in a race that Pro Parker won! They picked up 27 opens between them in 2025 and have made a flying start to the new year. 

Fastlane George and Good Rainbow provided Barry O'Sullivan with a short-priced brace on the card, the pair getting the job done at 10/11 and 11/10 respectively. Fastlane George had only run in sprints at the track prior to last night, a four-time D1 winner. The latter picked up a six-bend contest.

The other two opens on the card went to Spencer Mavrias and David Mullins via Lets Go Girl and Zenith Zimbombom respectively. We have mentioned before that Lets Go Girl is really starting to understand her job now, winning for the fifth time in 12 career starts, producing a 28.99 on a slow track.  The pair were odds on winners six and seven on the evening.

Donny doubles for Calvert and Grayson

Although the winning time of 30.08 didn't set the track alight, it was a very different draw for Soapy Suds to overcome compared to her bet365 Puppy Oaks run to the final. Debbie Calvert's youngster was winning for the fourth time in just five starts, and had to do things the hard way from the back after a slow start, picking up a solid yardstick in Bogger Darling. 

Calvert had earlier seen Sole Focus pick up a 450m contest. It was a third straight win over track and trip for the son of Droopys Sydney, looking a decent prospect in the process. 

Kirsty Grayson also picked up a pair of winners on the night with Slaneyside Swade and Look Smart getting the victories. The former was in a sprint contest, dipping under 17 seconds for a third straight success, while the latter was winning for the fourth time in his last seven starts.

The shortest priced winner on the card was Bouncing Monarch for David Fradgely, victorious at 1/4. He had to ride an early bump but was quickly in control of his rivals. There was a staying race to open the card which went the way of Rapido Treat for Samantha Lapidge.

Thunder dances his way to victory

There was a single open on the Yarmouth card in the afternoon which went to Thunder Dance for Craig Morris. A triple winner when trained in Ireland, he has won four of his five starts since joining Morris, and is only a March 24 whelp, so has a little while left of his puppy status.