Two of the three East Anglian Derby semis go the way of Craig Morris

Morris the man to beat once more at Yarmouth

Droopys Buck justified his position at the head of the outright market for the Click Competitions East Anglian Derby at Yarmouth, with the quickest of the semi-final wins on Wednesday night. Craig Morris's runner was able to get himself to the front earlier than he had in the heats, with an instant move to the inside of Laugh Alot (who had out trapped him) proving the winning move on the run-up. Romeo Ability chased him home for Patrick Janssens to claim the other final spot.

Morris brought up a quick double in the next semi with Montana Tiger. He was well berthed on the inside with a slow-starting, middle runner in two and the quickest starter of the race in three. Although he was not the sharpest to the opening bend himself, he found he had plenty of room to launch his challenge. Wide on the apex at the three-quarter mark, he cut back inside off the final bend to take the win from Irene Barnard's Strathrannoch. 

The third semi went to Hasselbomb and Kelli Windebank. We ran a piece back in February when he arrived at the Windebank range as he joined with a big reputation. He had shown the odd flash (mainly at Nottingham ahead of this competition) that there is a serious engine in there and he has now proven it, making a Category One final. He notched up a flying split to have the race in safekeeping from an early stage, chased home by Aayamza Shazza for John Mullins, who was making her third final at the top level. 

A puppy competition also saw a winner for Morris, this time with his Arc Puppy Classic finalist Lady Gambet. She has made a sparkling start for the kennel, winning for the fourth time on just her sixth start, and doing so in a time that was just 10 spots shy of the one produced by Droopys Buck. Given she didn't pick up the lead until the third bend, it marked her down once more as a potential star. 

The other heat went to Droopys Mamie for Michelle Lewis. She also got to the front at the third bend, though her end time was a long way short of Lady Gambet. She has made a sharp start to life at Yarmouth, now the winner of two of her three starts at the track, with an A4 success ahead of this one.  

In the stayers heats, it was Newinn Cloud who produced the pick of the times for Mark Wallis. He was the winner of this event last year, popping out in front to kick off his defence by almost eight lengths, making it a perfect 3/3 at Yarmouth in the process. Another run like this next week would make him hard to beat. 

His main rival would look to be Romeo Empire who took the final race of the night to give Janssens a double. His sectional was six spots superior to Newinn Cloud, though he ended up 11 ticks down on end time. That should make for another superb supporting final next Wednesday night.

Outdoor Cracker took the opening heat for Erica Samuels. He has bundles of strong form over both four and six bends at this track, notching up win number 25 for his career in the process. This was a solid effort from the front, and although his time would suggest he has work on next week in the final, he is a bold local who is capable of digging deep into his reserves to give them a race. 

Three heats of a sprint competition saw Gemma Evans's Nightingale Crew joint quickest. The three winners clocked 16.41, 16.41 and 16.44 which is going to make for a very interesting final next week. He trapped well from the middle and was always in control of proceedings.

The same time was clocked by Yahoo Megan who continues to add successes for Patrick Janssens. She has hit a decent run of form in recent months, and despite turning a veteran back in May, she continues to churn out the smart efforts. She had to work hard as she was out trapped by Lesleys Buddy but with that one moving off, she stuck her nose up the inside to take over.

There was a bit of a surprise in the middle heat with Maurice Rice picking up the win with 10/1 shot Rileys Daughter. Roanna Mamba had been sent off the odds-on favourite for Michelle Brown, but as with so many sprint races, this was won by a superior break. The winner was first to show on the outside from the striped jacket with the runner-up last to show in the opening strides.