GARY THE ARB heads into Saturday’s semi-finals of the Ladbrokes Winter Derby at Monmore as the fastest heat winner after last year’s runner-up blasted to victory in heat two of the £10,000-to-the-winner Category One.

Six heats of the 480m annual along with six heats of the Ladbrokes Golden Jacket over 684m made for a high-quality’s night’s racing at the Wolverhampton track and it was Belinda Green’s Hove raider who set the standard with a fast-starting and trap-to-line success over Toddys Wolf (Tom Heilbron) in 28.15sec (normal).

“It was a brilliant display of pace and power,” said Monmore racing manager Tony Williamson, “and he clearly wants to go one better this year! 

“It was quite testing in many ways after continuous rain throughout the day, only really easing up as the night wore on,” he added. “Nevertheless the track held up really well and  some good times were clocked, not least by Belinda’s dog.

“I also thought Santas Amigo ran well in his heat. He completely missed the break in a warm-up race the previous week but then showed all sorts of pace to finish second and was clear at the pick-up, so you knew he’d come on for the run.

“And it was great to see Headford Dane back to his best, too. He was always going to come on from the week before, too. He’s won two major competitions already here and must have real claims of a third, although I don’t recall a Winter Derby as competitive. It was 8-1 to the field going into the heats.”

The David Mullins-trained Santas Amigo kicked off the latest renewal of the one-lap competition with a strong-running and clear-cut victory over pacesetting Kilara Berb (Nathan Hunt) in 28.46sec (normal) after heading his field approaching the third turn.

Mike Burton’s Droopys Aladdin repeated his impressive prep race victory seven days previously with another cracking show of speed when making all from Texas Jack (Richard Rees) in 28.23sec (normal), before Tom Heilbron’s evergreen Unanimous Leon continued his rich vein of form with an all-the-way win in heat four.

The Newcastle raider’s 4.29sec split matched Droopys Aladdin’s identical clocking – the pair posting the fastest sectionals on the night – before Unanimous Leon went on for a 28.30sec success.

Headford Dane then stepped up successfully at Monmore in heat five – not for the first time – as last year’s Premier Greyhound Racing Puppy Derby and Ladbrokes Gold Cup champion, both over the same C&D, made all to score in 28.32sec (normal), before Craig Morris’s new intake Not So Steady stayed best to edge Bruce Way (Mark Wallis) in a thrilling finish to heat six, the winner stopping the clock in 28.52sec.

Trap draws for Saturday’s semis: https://monmoregreyhounds.com/racing/advance/races

 

Photo: © Steve Nash