Thursday night action from Hove, Newcastle and Valley
Three tracks hosted open race action on Thursday night with Hove, Newcastle and the Valley all producing smart winners, with a new fastest sprint of the year at the middle named.
Brunch Pal leads the way at Hove
Dave Lee's Brunch Pal is on a tour of the southern tracks at present. A regular runner at Central Park, he was at Towcester on Sunday and then Hove last night. He is a dog who looks to handle any track and showed his class once more to power into an easy lead and come home four and a half lengths clear of his nearest rival. That's now 16/26 since joining Lee, making his debut for the kennel last December.
Just three spots slower than Brunch Pal was John Campbell's Venetian Jock. He was electric as soon as his paws touched the sand, clocking a 3.50 split to take his race from the front. He is not a regular trapper like that, tending to do some good work in the latter half of his races. Once he had led up, it was always going to be very tough for any of his rivals to claw him back.
There was a decent sprint win from Paul Donovan's Slaneyside Swale who enjoyed the easier opponents than he had faced on Coral Regency final night. He is a smart sprinter in his own right, with a 50% strike rates since joining Donovan (9/18) from Kirsty Grayson at Doncaster where he was 5/10!
A staying contest was expected to go the way of Powerhouse Duke but he found trouble as Jason Heath's Minstrels Six set the early fractions. It was a race that was set. up perfectly to suit Belinda Green's power-packed stayer Swift Jarvis who added another win to his bulging resume, getting up by a short head right on the line.
Cahill had better luck with Shes One Eighty in the first open on the card, showing plenty of bravery to cut onto the rails from the white jacket at the opening bend, a move that saw her go from fourth to second before nipping up the inside at the third bend to grab the lead. She was bringing up a hat-trick of wins after a pair of sprint victories.
Heath also managed to get himself on the winner's board for the night with Burrows Fizz. He tracked the leader around, picking up the lead into the fourth bend before having to hold off the flying Moving Force who had taken a bump at the first bend. Cahill's runner failed by a short head to get up after his run to the final of the Coral Sussex Cup recently.
Gazza with new sprint best of the year
There were only three opens at Newcastle on Thursday night but that was plenty enough to see a new fastest of the year over the sprint trip from Brian Fairbairn's Slingshot Gazza. It brought up a hat-trick of 290m wins for the adaptable speedster, who is just as at home over four bends as he is over two.
Bonnie Sues Luck was the quicker of the 480m winners on the evening for Jimmy Fenwick. It was her bend running that won her the day, taking advantage of a massive gap up the inside at the opening bend to hit the front and keeping a tighter line around the final two turns when she was challenged by Tom Heilbron's Five Ova Kind.
Neil Brown was responsible for the other open race winner on the night in the shape of Pressure Tie. It was a first win for the youngster since joining Brown at the fifth attempt, showing smart early pace to go around in front. He could have a little bit better still to come.
Burton's stayer storms to victory
The Valley is not an easy place to run without a prior look and Face The Storm as a wide runner went a circuitous route on his way to victory on his first visit to the track for Mike Burton. An open race winner on his six-bend debut at Monmore, this was a massive drop in class, just 15 spots off the fastest of the year. It feels like he would set new figures for the trip if coming back.
A sprint on the card went the way of Swift Kimberly for Adrian Rawlings. She has won four of nine since arriving at the kennels having been in action at Dunstall Park prior. These easier surroundings have suited her well, with this the pick of her runs so far in Wales.
The quicker of the two open winners over 460m on the night was Shaun Chappell's Simpson Sniper. This was a third open race success for him since joining the kennel in April, having been an open race winner at Sunderland in the past. One of those opens came at Monmore, so he is a classy enough type for the kennel to enjoy.
Frank Bryce was responsible for the other 460m winner in Lady Divine. She won Performance of the Week last week at the track over two bends, stepping up to four and just about getting far enough ahead to hold off the late closers. She looks a nice prospect for the kennel.
