BRINKLEYS POET set the standard in the heats of the Betfred Gymcrack at Kinsley on Sunday as the Matt Dartnall-trained runner franked the form of the recent Monmore Puppy Derby when making all in the opening heat of the 462m feature at the west Yorkshire circuit.

The May 2016 son of Scolari Me Daddy and Kilara Lizzie (pictured above at Monmore) was quickly away and soon in command as he ran amok thereafter, winning by six and a half lengths in 27.26sec (+10) from Mudross Charlie and Fairholme Sky, the trio all securing places in Sunday’s semi-finals.

Brinkleys Poet had finished third behind Rising Brandy and Droopys Verve in the Monmore final, with his conquerors very much now having the Towcester Derby as targets, the latter having won a trial stakes for the Classic at the weekend, and the former trialling well before racing.

The victory impressed Kinsley racing manager Andrew Mascarenhas, who said: “Brinkleys Poet fully justified his status as the ante-post favourite and has what looks like an easy semi-final on paper, although Lotties Rocket did move off in his heat before winning well.”

The Dave Lee-trained runner indeed did drift off at the turn in his heat before straightening up down the back to run clear of his heat six rivals to win in 27.73sec, although the runner-up here Moaning Star (Darren Whitton) caught the eye of Mascarenhas.

“I thought Moaning Star was very unlucky in his heat. He ran on well after early crowding and I’d expect him to run well against Itsur Mate. That second semi-final is probably the most competitive, and should be a good betting race for the sponsors!”

Itsur Mate justified favouritism in heat two as the Romford raider produced a strong-running effort to catch and pass pacesetter Garnaman at the fourth bend before going on to win by four lengths from the runner-up with market rival Oh Armani back in third in a winning time of 27.75sec.

Bansha Monet (27.71sec) landed a 12-1 surprise from Jim Hayton in heat three, although the victory over Kevin Boon’s Cookie Crossan was fully merited as the winner dashed away from the boxes and always held sway and crossed the line two and a half lengths clear.

Heather Dimmock’s Kanturk Repeat (27.51sec) underlined the strength of the Towcester form when the recent A5 winner led off the second bend to win heat four, while the remaining heat six saw the Philip Simmonds kennel strike courtesy of Droopys Radiance (27.72sec).

Looking ahead to the semis, Mascarenhas picked out Kevin Boon’s qualifiers as potential improvers. “I thought both of Kevin’s dogs [Cookie Crossan and Cookie Time] ran well for their first look at the track. Carl Perry’s Geelo Blissful will also come on for the experience.”

Semi finals: www.kinsleydogs.co.uk/data/kinsle/arcdata/pdfcards/06115042018.pdf