Tarquin sparkles in Champion Stakes semis

Tiffield Tarquin (T6) goes fastest in the semi-finals of the PGR Champion Stakes Photo: © Steve Nash 

Tiffield tonks his Champion Stakes rivals

Tiffield Tarquin booked his place in the PGR Champion Stakes final with a brilliant performance at Romford on Friday night.

Roy Peckham’s 15/8 chance raced into an early lead out wide in the first semi-final and never looked like being caught, despite the strong-running Gary The Arb turning in second.

The Derby quarter finalist maintained a furious march up front and crossed the line a length and three-quarters clear of Belinda Green’s runner-up in a fastest-of-the-round 34.74.

Tiffield Tarquin  Photo: © Steve Nash 

Mark Wallis had the one-two in the third semi as defending champion New Destiny produced a huge run to reel in Fabulous Sonique by a head.

The latter blazed a trail as New Destiny found traffic problems in behind, but the 10/11 favourite came with a late rattle off the home turn to collar her kennelmate in 35.21.

New Destiny (T2) beats Fabulous Sonique (T1) Photo: © Steve Nash 

Nathan Hunt’s Untold Paanga (3/1) clocked an identical time when making all in the second semi-final from Moving Force, who stayed on well to grab second after early trouble.

Untold Paanga  Photo: © Steve Nash 

Ted On Fire set the standard in the semi-finals of the Coral Romford Guys And Dolls when making all at 6/1 in 23.86.

The John Mullins-trained dog broke smartly and posted a rapid 3.69 sectional en route to making all in style from Brindle Bully and Newinn Souly.

Ted On Fire  (T3) Photo: © Steve Nash 

The first semi-final was also won in trap-to-line fashion by Dashaway Daisy, who pinged the lids and was all out to hold Zenith Impact and Bacon Roll in a thrilling finish.

Dashaway Daisy (T4) Photo: © Steve Nash 

That completed a double for Maxine Locke, who had earlier got on the scoresheet when her Whitewood Lenny landed heat one of the Romford Friday Night 500 Standard at 7/2 in 24.01.

The third heat saw Tally Ho Socks defy a bumpy ride to score at 3/1 in 24.04, while Paul Young hit the target with Yahoo Mareike’s all-the-way success at 4/7 in 24.04 in heat two.

Young also struck in heat two of the Maurice Newman Memorial Marathon courtesy of Bacardi Bullet (9/2), who defied a troubled passage to win well in 47.65 from Capel Rose and Gothic Kitty.

The first heat was slightly quicker as Crafty Prospero (13/8) overcame trouble to collar Innfield Fifi in the shadow of the post in 47.57. Ballymac Nova picked up the third qualifying spot.

Crafty Prospero (T2) Photo: © Steve Nash 

The Gemma Evans-trained Princess Matilda shared the spoils with Kevin Proctor’s Front Polo as the pair dead-heated over 575m in 35.28, while Brigadir Brindle (15/8) swooped late to land the concluding 575m contest in 35.21.

Fairbairn doubles up at Sunderland

Brian Fairbairn landed two of the four opens at Sunderland, starting Slingshot Shaz over 450m.

The 10/11 favourite rocketed out of the boxes and quickly put the race to bed with a burst of early speed, as she came home clear in 26.98.

Her kennelmate Slingshot Gazza (4/5fav) gave favourite backers something more to cheer about when running out an easy winner of a sprint contest in 15.74.

Dean Blackbird’s Emers Bean (5/2) made every yard a winning one as she took the Arena Racing Company Ladies (450m) in 27.65, while Tom Heilbron’s Droopys Cardi struck at 4/1 in the 640m event with a 39.79 success from the front.