FORTUNACH COL heads into Saturday’s final of the Ladbrokes Summer Stayers Classic as the fastest semi-final winner – looking to land a second Category One title for connections in the matter of weeks.

A recent winner of the Time Greyhound Nutrition 3 Steps To Victory at Sheffield, the August 2023 son of Ballymac Best and Ballymac Minton was always in the vanguard and was never headed for a three-length win over Betgoodwin Tutts (Diane Henry) in a best-of-the-night 37.86sec (normal) for the 630m trip.

Last year’s winner Vhagar missed out on a crack at Summer Stayers Classic history when a missed break proved costly in the first semi, staying on well but managing only third in the first-two-to-qualify contest behind Jimmy Fenwick’s Zenith Pasha who caught Droopys Bookem (Tom Heilbron) to win by three-quarters of a length in 37.93sec (normal) 

The other two places for Saturday’s £10,000 final were taken by second semi-final winner Toureen Rose for Kevin Hutton after a handy position off the first two bends saw her ultimately out-stay leader Rapido Benny (Ricky Holloway) before crossing the line three-quarters of a length in front of Droopys Deploy (Jason Heath) in 38.08sec (normal).

With the elimination of Vhagar, Monmore communications manager Joe Edwards agreed the destination of this year’s Ladbrokes Summer Stayers Classic was wide open.

“I’d probably say it’s between Zenith Pasha and Fortanach Col for the Summer Stayers, but I’m just looking forward to seeing the races, not just the Ladbrokes Gold Cup but the other finals on the night – it’s a brilliant card ahead,” he said.

Edwards added: “Finals night can be something of a whirlwind with getting trophies, rosettes, jackets, bouquets of flowers and everything else ready, but I always make a point of standing out on the terraces to see the finals just to soak it all in – especially when you’re seeing some of the fastest dogs and strongest stayers in training on your doorstep!

“It should be a fantastic night all round. The best of luck to all involved.”

Trap draw for Saturday’s Ladbrokes Summer Stayers Classic Final: 1 Droopys Bookem, 2 Betgoodwin Tutts, 3 Zenith Pasha, 4 Tooreen Rose, 5 Fortunach Col (m), 6 Droopys Deploy (w).