ROMFORD racing manager Mark Arkell admitted the heats of the 2026 running of the Coral Coronation Cup will not be easily forgotten after an eventful first round of the £10,000 Category One event over 575m.

Moved from Friday to Monday’s matinee meeting at the Essex venue after extreme temperatures last week forced the cancellation of a number of fixtures throughout the week, the six heats also saw one of them voided and straws drawn after racing to determine the final three semi-finalists.

“It’s certainly been an interesting few days,” said Arkell. “All the Entain tracks, including us, postponed meetings from Tuesday to Thursday – but we then also had to make a decision on Friday when the temperatures weren’t dropping.

“Moving them to Monday generally worked well but, of course, having a heat voided when Blackstone Opera turned back was not ideal, but we had no option but to stop the race in the interests of safety.

“We’re set fair now for the semi-finals and it remains a wide-open Coral Coronation Cup – and it’s the same with the Coral Guys & Dolls. Having these two great competitions side by side works well for us and we’re looking forward to a real gala night’s racing here on Friday week (July 10) with two major finals and a strong supporting card no doubt.”

Training honours in the Coronation Cup heats clearly went to Belinda Green as the Hove trainer landed a superb treble courtesy of Raebella Bullet (35.64sec -30), Teddie (35.13sec -30) and Bikini Bullet (35.04sec -30) to hold a huge hand in the semis.

The other two completed Coronation Cup heats went David Mullins’ Izzys Tenpin (36.13sec -30) and Jason Heath’s Burrows Charm (36,15sec -30), while the qualifiers from the voided qualifier were Underground Jim (Paul Young), Untold Ariary (Dave Lee) and Newinn Aero (Maxine Locke).

Fastest in the supporting Coral Guys & Dolls heats came in the opening eliminator in which Nathan Hunt’s Romford Puppy Cup winner raced away to win her ‘Dolls’ heat in 23.79sec (normal) for the 400m trip.

The semi-finals will be staged alongside the Coronation Cup semis on Friday.