Proper Heiress lays down the opening salvo in the Eclipse
Monday night was the opening round of the Premier Greyhounds Eclipse at Nottingham where the top time was produced by Proper Heiress.
Burton and Fenwick with Eclipse doubles but Heiress goes fastest
A four-runner heat with a 1/14 favourite in the opening round of a Category One is far from the way that we want to portray the sport, but Proper Heiress at least gave us a performance to enjoy, clocking a slick 29.17. Although he only faced three opponents, one of those - Raebella Bullet - was an Oaks finalist recently and she came home six and a quarter lengths behind.
There is a far tougher task coming up in the semi-finals next week for Proper Heiress in a field that would not look out of place in the final itself.
One of those that the Mark Wallis-trained star will face is Droopys Aladdin who was the second half of a quick fire double for Mike Burton, after Droopys Suprstar took the opening heat. The pair were separated by just six spots, with Aladdin just the quicker, producing a 29.36 against a 29.42.
Gary The Arb is also in that first semi-final after producing a 29.37 run for Belinda Green. He took advantage of a decent break to get around the opening bend in front, and with his six-bend form, he was never going to be caught, even with another decent six-bend performer in Ballymac Sargie turning second behind him.
Yet another heat winner to grace the opening semi next week is Zenith Tanju. The market spoke strongly for the Derby finalist, backed into 1/5 at the off, and the money was spot on as Jimmy Fenwick's charge ran out a five and a half length winner.
Four of the heat winners sported the red jacket, the final one of those was the opening half of Fenwick's double as Gymcrack winner Elusivenomore showed the best early pace to grab the first bend lead to see off Hopes Ompaloompa.
There were two other opens on the undercard. Ballinakill Liam was a quick winner of the sprint for the Wallis team, his 17.59 the joint seventh fastest time of the year so far over 305m. Esther Driver had the winner of the other with Stellas Smartie, the January 24 puppy winning his first open having won his first race at A5 level back in June.
