WARZONE TOM consolidated his position at the head of the ante-post market with an impressive fastest-of-the-night success in heat four of the Coral Champion Stakes at Romford on Friday.

The Liz McNair-trained two-year-old had impressed in a high-class prep race over the 575m trip the previous week – and repeated the dose as he came away handily behind fast-starting All Fours (Mark Wallis) before hitting the front off the second bend and then racing away to win from that rival by almost nine lengths in 35.03sec (normal).

A sad postscript to the race was a broken hock sustained by last year’s St Leger champion and GBGB Stayer of the Year Smallmead.

Rab McNair, husband of winning trainer Liz, said: “First off I’d like to say best wishes to Smallmead’s owners and John (Mullins, trainer). She’s been a fantastic bitch for them and I’m sure when the time comes she’ll be a top-class brood.

“Tom took his chance well and he’s a good dog, especially when he’s got a chance to go off the front. He ran well over six bends at Yarmouth but we gave him a couple of weeks off before Romford to freshen him up – and this trip seems to be playing to his strengths.”

Droopys Addition has been popular open-racer at Romford for a few seasons now and Gemma Evans’ consistent tracker produced a textbook display of front running in heat three on his way to a 24th success in 53 starts.

Pacing up to lead into the first bend, the May 2018 whelp was never troubled thereafter as he crossed the line almost four lengths clear of Easy Eyes (David Mullins) in 35.22sec, with St Leger runner-up Night Time Danny (Stephen Rayner) recovering well after first and third bend crowding to qualify in third place.

The £10,000-to-the-winner event kicked off with favourite Bombardier striking gold for Mark Wallis, albeit the St Leger semi-finalist looked an unlikely winner until pacesetters Nipsey Hustle (Carol Weatherall) and Coolavanny Kyser, also based at Imperial Kennels, came together at the third bend.

That changed the whole complexion of the race, with the front pair losing all chance as Slippy Scarlett (Michelle Brown) took up the running before the strong-running Bombardier came through to win by three and three-quarter lengths in 35.53sec, the slower time reflecting the messy nature of the race.

Nightingale Don began what proved a bittersweet night for John Mullins on a high note as he paced up to lead in heat two before the Carol Weatherall-trained Fight The Power took up the running. However, the Mullins runner was never far off the pace and came through approaching the fifth bend to win by three and a half lengths from that rival in 35.26sec.

David Mullins’ local star Kishlawn Shakira (36.00sec) came home best for a popular victory in heat five. Gymstar Elusive (John Mullins) paced up to head fast-starting Ivy High Skyhigh (Mark Wallis) into the bend and led the charge for much of the way until Droopys Aoife (Gemma Evans) and then the winner struck.

The sixth and final heat, arguably the most exciting of the sextet, went to another local entry in the Bernie Doyle-trained Unprecedented who was always handy before denying longtime leader Massive Ego (Gary Vincent) in the shadow of the post to win by a short-head in 35.73sec, with Chelms Yes (Paul Young) a close-up third here.

Mark Arkell, Romford racing manager, said: “Warzone Tom lived up to his billing as Champion Stakes favourite. He didn’t trap particularly well but showed great pace round the first two bends to go clear.

“Nightingale Don and Droopys Addition also caught the eye, so we’re looking forward to the semi-finals and another high-class Friday night open-race card here.”

Trap draw for Friday’s semi-finals: https://assets.cj1.in/imminent-otter/production/assets/results/Romford/form-guides/19-FRIDAY-PROOF_2021-10-08-205507.pdf