Rocket leads the Northern Flat while Poppy absolutely flies in the Angel of the North

Rocket and Poppy lead the way at Newcastle

Jimmy Fenwick had two of the three winners in the Time Northern Flat semi-finals at Newcastle on Thursday night but it was another Jimmy who had the quickest of the winners as Jimmy Gaskin's Deerjet Rocket flew to victory in the middle semi.

Deerjet Rocket had given Wicky Ned an eight plus length beating in the opening round last week but he was sent off at 9/2 in his semi, producing a very similar display from the front, running his rivals into the ground. His time was just one spot different from seven nights back off a slightly quicker split. Tom Heilbron's Droopys Link chased him home to book a spot in the final.

Wicky Ned himself showed much more of the old sparkle, the cobwebs having been blown away a week ago in the heats. Bockos Buster had set the fractions for Savva Roberts, as was to be expected given his sprinting exploits. He was never able to get far enough clear of Wicky Ned and defending champion Naochra who were chasing him down. Fenwick's dog picked up the win while Naochra went out on his shield for John Flaherty. 

The other semi-final went to Woltemade. 480m around here is just tailor-made for the son of Ballymac Finn who made it eight wins from 12 starts at the track, making a third Newcastle final in a career that only spans 15 races to this point. Those three away races saw him make the final of the Gymcrack at Sheffield as well! He was followed home by Ballymac Sargie to give Heilbron a pair in next week's decider.

Performance of the night came in the Arc Angel of the North as Slingshot Poppy overcame the semi-final monkey on her shoulder at odds of 1/20 to produce a run just five spots off the track record for Brian Fairbairn. She will be very warm odds again next week as there are very few dogs in the country who can get close to her in this sort of form. 

Track record holder Droopys Shearer and Droopys Expert are the only other two dogs to break the 28-second barrier at the track, so this is rarified air. Fabulous Harmony followed her home for Joe Edgar.

There were just two spots splitting the winners of the other two semis with Coppice Saphire just coming out the quicker for Fenwick. She was a finalist in this competition last year, impressing again with her attitude to get her head in front late on to see off Robert's Droopys Calla who didn't impress with her attitude, letting the winner grab the win.

The opening semi went to Daren Golightly's Newline Kielty, following up her win in the heats last week. She was quickly in control to make it five wins from 11 starts since arriving in England. Her early pace should see her rack up plenty more wins for Golightly. Witton Gucci grabbed the other spot in the final for Glenn Foot.

A pair of sprint heats rounded out the open race action with Inclement Queen the quicker of the pair for Ronald Knights. She has proven to be an excellent addition to the kennel with wins over two and four bends at Star Pelaw. This was her first run away from that venue, coping well with the very different track.

Slingshot Gazza took the other heat to kick off a Fairbairn double. He was just three spots shy of the other semi winner which should set up an interesting final next Thursday night. Not seen in race action since the Laurels semi-finals at Dunstall Park in April, he ran his rivals ragged by five and three-quarter lengths and is entitled to sharpen up for the return to action.

Burton takes the quicker of the Valley opens

There were two open races at Valley last night with Mike Burton's Kingsholm Road the quicker of the two winners. It was only his fourth race since joining Burton, the other three at Monmore. This drop in class to a Valley contest should be a big plus for his confidence, getting the job done in style having picked up the running at the third bend.

Donna Davy was responsible for the other winner in Fastlane George. He was electric from the lids and that was all she wrote, a length and three-quarters in front at the sectional, he had more than doubled that to three and three-quarters by the time he led them back past the line again. He was a very smart type at Central Park for Barry O'Sullivan and has become a win machine for Davy.