Richie Taberner gets three into the Steel City Cup final

Pictures: Rob Crawford

Taberner takes half the finalists as Woltemade goes quickest 

It was another excellent afternoon at Sheffield for the Richie Taberner team, securing three of the six spots in the BetGoodwin Steel City Cup final. 

Moanteen Hatton led the way for them, winning his semi-final, picking up his kennelmate Adelinesfirstdog who was spring loaded from the traps. The winner got a bump out of the traps from Annadown Shadow which put him on the back foot going into the first bend but when Sean Parker's dog moved off, Moanteen Hatton needed no second invitation to take advantage of the gap up the rails.

Quickest of the three semi-final winners was Jimmy Fenwick's Woltemade to put himself in yet another major final where he will once more sport his favourite orange jacket. He timed his break better his week, though still had to dig in and battle to hold off Taberner's Holding Blaze by a length. 

The middle semi went to Diane Henry's Grouchos Cossie who put in a power-packed finish to pick up Magical Keith for Gary Griffiths, who had set out to make every yard of the running. The winner still had three lengths to make up on the leader at the three-quarters mark, running him down in the shadow of the post.

There was another win on the undercard for Henry as Betgoodwin Ben continued his rehabilitation from being a trap turner. He has very limited miles on the clock for an October 23 whelp, but with his problems hopefully behind him, connections can really kick on with him. 

There was also a double on the afternoon for John Sharp with That's Mikeys marginally the quicker of his pair. He popped out in front and that was all she wrote with nothing looking like challenging him. This was a fifth win in 10 starts since joining Sharp, kicking off with an A5 success. 

Letter Magic was Sharp's other winner, coming up in the very next race. The 8/1 outsider in a four-runner contest, she showed too much in the way of early gears for her rivals to handle, and a little trouble behind her at the opening bend allowed her plenty of escape time. 

The card opened with a very impressive sprint win from Rose Draper's Headford Mason. His 15.84 from the front tied the fifth quickest time of the year so far. A bit of a feast or famine type with his trapping, when he gets it right as he did here, he is a very smart performer. 

Kelly Hodson got on the scoresheet with Co Down Beauty who landed the staying contest on the card. May was the last time that she had been seen over this far, arriving in great form having won a pair of graded races in her last three starts, going under by a short head in the other one. 

True Trend has not been with Kevin Boon for long and has already made the semi-final stage of both the Puppy Classic at Nottingham and the East Anglian Derby at Yarmouth. He had exited the Steel City Cup in the opening round last week but quickly got back on the winning trail.

Although Parker was out of luck with his Steel City Cup runner, he had the winner of a sprint with Mossend Hawk. He was yet another to make all of the running on the afternoon, dropping back from 483m at Doncaster over which he had made his first two starts for the kennel. 

Although he was a winner over the 500m trip at this track two starts back, the 480m distance suits Tiermana Rocky better, and it was over the shorter four-bend trip that he scored yesterday for David Fradgley. Six of his nine open race successes have now come over this track and distance. 

The final race of the afternoon went to Kelli Windebank and Essjay Lola. It was only her fourth start for the kennel with just an A7 win at Yarmouth prior, but it did not stop her being sent off at 5/2 and showing the best gears to the opening turn in a sprint.

Plunge impresses again at Towcester

Droopys Plunge has taken well to racing again, picking up his third straight win at Towcester in just four races since returning to action. He stopped the clock in 28.53, having absolutely smashed the lids down, producing a quite frankly unbelievable 3.62 split. Patrick Janssens has him flying again.  

There was a quick win for Patrick Godfrey's Arthur Tomato who made a striking UK debut. He is a litter brother to Godfrey's Juvenile Classic winner Arthur Bitter as well as Annadown Warrior, Shadow et al. Quickly in front of his field, he ran out a comfortable three-length winner. 

Kevin Hutton took a win with Jazzy Velvet, another to make all of the running on the afternoon. A prior winner here over 460m, he was having his first run since losing his puppy status and ran riot by almost five lengths. He is another nice type for the kennel to go to war with. 

Quickest of the winners over 460m on the card was Salacres Lock Up for Peter Harnden. He missed the kick a touch but paced up well to the bend. Perhaps the red jacket is not the ideal starting spot for him as he coursed the hare and gave a couple of his rivals a nudge at the first bend, but he opened up impressively down the back.

Feather Magraw was another to score over 460m, this winner for Nick Deas. He had a decent battle on the way round with Salacres Nando, adding to wins over both two and four bends in graded company last month.  

Another local grader to make the breakthrough at a higher level was Laurence Tuffin's Romeo Regent. He had a recent pair of wins in A5 and A4 grades, making the step up into an open to land another win in a race that looks like it will be a fair enough contest down the road. 

The other open on the card went to Yvonnes Bab for Ruth Lambe. She had put herself in a position early on to have first crack at the leader and having taken it up at the third bend, she had to hold off the closing Fabulous Glance as. the line came.