Short price sprinters dominate Nottingham while Foot doubles up at Star Pelaw
Unusually for a Monday night there were two tracks with open racing, the usual Nottingham meeting as well as a Bank Holiday card at Star Pelaw run in memory of Harry Burton.
Sprinters take centre stage at Nottingham
Two of the three sprint heats were the top runs on the card at Nottingham last night with the final set to be a tasty affair next Monday. Da Don was the quicker of the two winners for Mark Russell, breaking the beam in 17.63 to add to his three prior wins at the track. A Coral Golden Sprint finalist, he is now 5/10 in the early stages of his career.
Mr Flashy was not as sharp away as he was last week but he continued his run of excellent form for Adam Sear. He has won five of his last six starts, the sole defeat coming when three-quarters of a length behind Arena Racing Company Dunstall Dash final favourite Good Acclaim.
The other heat went to Robert Short's Castell Maggie. She was by some way the slowest of the winners over 305m but she was squeezed up on the opening bend, losing a couple of lengths before showing a good attitude to force her head in front right on the line.
The final race of the night saw a deeply impressive win from Jason Gray's Hardy Bucko. The market concentrated on the inside pair but they were not close to being at the races when the winner shot to a 4.98 split. He is a very hard dog to knock off the bunny and was not for catching.
A pair of Category Three finals saw The Other Kodi take the gents for Barry Denby and Rosie Jackell the ladies for Terry Munslow. The latter was marginally the quicker by two spots in a race which Munslow would have been expected to win on the market but not necessarily with Rosie Jackell.
Denby's winner kept things simple, away and gone with a 3.90 split to lead up the inside and from there it was plain sailing for the odds-on favourite. He has won eight of his 14 starts now, so it will be interesting to see whether connections continue with Monday night one-offs here or aim a little higher elsewhere.
Mossrich Sally was backed to gain revenge on Sawdust Peg in the stayers contest with the traps reversed and Esther Driver's charge did exactly that. Her old rival hit the front but couldn't hold on having come back past Sally when they had met in a graded race last time out. The pair have only had two starts each over 680m so this is a rivalry we should see plenty more of.
Star Pelaw double for Glenn Foot
Star Pelaw raced on Bank Holiday Monday with a meeting run in honour of former trainer Harry Burton who passed away late last year at the age of 70. Glenn Foot was the man to beat on the card, picking up a couple of winners with Foulkscourt Bono and Emilys Superstar.
The first of those came in a sprint contest, adding to an A3 win from last month. He is the winner of two of his first three starts for Foot after wins in Ireland at Drumbo over both two and four bends.
Emilys Superstar produced some of her top work over the 590m distance last year and backed up a win on her last start with an all-the-way success. It was her 17th win in open race company and her 11th in 23 starts in opens since joining Foot.
There was an impressive 435m success for Saleen Ri representing David McLaughlan. He had roared back to form with a visually impressive win the week before, backing that up in no uncertain terms with another very smart run, stopping the clock in 25.56.
Stuart Tighe seems to have the touch with sprinters of late and his Trevors Star dug deep to land a success by a short head over two bends. She has now won three on the bounce and six of her last nine, touching off Beachgrove Lad who was looking for a hat-trick of wins himself.
Seven of Ballymac Deboss's wins for Carl Jackson prior to last night had come at Sunderland but he had a win at Star Pelaw back in December, adding to that with another 435m success. He clocked an identical 25.95 to Tom Heilbron's Freedom Pro Am who put five lengths into his rivals in short order despite not hitting the front until the three-quarters mark.
David Alcorn got in on the act with a win for Moonveen Jemima, It was only her second start for the kennel, her four wins in Ireland coming in a pair of back-to-back situations, so watch out for her going in again next time. Nicothebumblebee picked up the final open on the card for Gary Ralton to add to his A5 win from last time out.
