Droopys Nidge At Stud Trophy Final – Shawfield 480m – £4,000
NADURRA ROSS landed a deserved big-race success when lifting the £4,000 Droopys Nidge At Stud Trophy Final at Shawfield on Saturday.
The three-run Category Two event attracted a top-class entry and the weekend’s final did not disappoint with the John McLachlan-trained winner always in command as he produced his best effort when it mattered most.
Breaking in front and racing to a slick 3.67sec split, the July 2015 son of Droopys Jet and Enda Causeway was soon in control and repelled the early threat of Cooneen Jack (Jimmy Fenwick) past halfway before staying on strongly to win in 28.90sec (+40).
Runner-up to Roxholme Nidge at Sheffield having also finished third in the 3 Steps decider at the Owlerton venue, a race over the six-bend trip to underline the dog’s stamina, Nadurra Ross was being rewarded for a string of fine efforts.
“He’s deserved that,” said winning trainer McLachlan, who is attached to Shawfield being based in the Stirling area. “He’s pretty much been on the go all year, and rarely runs a bad race. He’s always thereabouts and we know stays really strongly over four bends.
“Once he’s in front over this trip you’d think that’s it,” he added of last year’s Laurels finalist at Newcastle who will be returning to the Byker venue for a crack at this year’s Conlon Family/Pin Point Recruitment-sponsored competition which starts on Thursday.
“He runs Newcastle well – he actually had his first race there – and is in great form clearly after Shawfield. It was great to win and I’d like to take the opportunity to thank the sponsors and the Shawfield management. It’s a great track for open racing.”
Daniel Rankin, racing manager at the Glasgow venue, congratulated connections and thanked big-race sponsor Willie Hyslop for putting up the prize. Hyslop actually had a finalist himself in the shape of Toolmaker Jet.
“Willie has the Toolmaker dogs and Fenceside bitches and it would have been nice for him to have won his own money!” said Rankin. “But John’s dog ran a cracker, and so, too, did Jimmy’s dog (Fenwick, Cooneen Jack) and they pretty much dominated.
“Overall we had some good heats and semis, but the final was pretty straightforward in the end – well done to Nadurra Ross who ran a great race and hopefully we’ll see him back here for the Scottish Derby next year.
“If we get the sponsors, we’d run open-race competitions all the time, but that’s not easy and you find it’s generally those already connected to the sport who do most of the supporting of these races.
“However, we’re trying to get together a local track championship event here before the end of the year. We’d be looking to run heats on December 22 and the final on December 29. it would be for 18 dogs.”
Shawfield results: www.gbgb.org.uk/resultsMeeting.aspx?id=167328