CRAYFORD staged the heats of the TV Trophy for the first time in its history on Saturday and, in the words of racing manager Danny Rayment, can now look forward to one of the best finals ever of the famous competition.

“We couldn’t have hoped for any better,” he said after three heats of the £9,000 competition sponsored by Ladbrokes. “All the major players qualified, and they include the defending champion too. We cannot wait for next week.”

Maireads Ivy, trained at Hove by Derek Knight, was first to go and set the standard with a fastest-of-the-night return over the 874m trip when making all the running over the ten-bend TV Trophy distance at the Kent venue.

Winner of two Boxing Day Marathons at Crayford, as well as last year’s Kent St Leger over the shorter 714m distance, Maireads Ivy raced away to win by a huge 14 and a half lengths in 56.41sec (+30) from the running-on Slippy Maska.

Knight said afterwards: “She loves it here. Crayford’s like a saucer and she glides round, and has enjoyed most of her success here. Winning tonight is great, even though many expected it. It takes the pressure off a touch and we can now look forward to next week.”

Matt Evans, who owns the November 2014 whelp with his mother Joy Rice, smiled: “What can you say about her? She’s the queen of Crayford in many ways, and is still doing it at four years of age now. We love here dearly and she’ll always be part of the family.”

Savana Winner (57.06sec +30) will aim to land Diane Henry a third TV Trophy success when she goes to traps next week, after the recent Irish intake reeled in last year’s winner Goldies Hotspur (Patrick Janssens) in what developed into a titanic tussle.

Lining up in heat two, the pair were led by local hope Rylane Dash (Mark Fenwick) but first Goldies Hotspur challenged and passed the leader, before Savana Winner loomed up menacingly and hit the front on the run for home to delight connections.

Owned by Henlow promoter Kevin Boothby, who made the trip to Crayford, he said: “What a great performance from a really exciting bitch. When I phoned Diane (Henry, trainer) to say I had a bought her from the Thurles sales, I told her she was special.

“Diane’s done a great job with settling her in, and she’s looked special tonight. It’s a great final and fantastic to be part of a famous competition. She’s a young marathon star – so whatever happens we’ll aim to stage a big marathon race at Henlow next year!”

Slippy Maggie, who vied with Maireads Ivy in the ante-post market, stepped into marathon company in the perfect style as this year’s Kent St Leger winner made no mistake on her return to Crayford as she powered through the field to lead after halfway in heat three.

Jonathan Blencowe’s Tellhersomething had set the tempo, but had no answer to the surge of Slippy Maggie who kept her form to the line to win by two and a half lengths in 56.47sec (+30) to give Hazel Kemp a second finalist next week.

Trap draw for Saturday’s Ladbrokes.com TV Trophy Final: 1 Maireads Ivy, 2 Slippy Maggie, 3 Slippy Maska, 4 Savana Winner, 5 Goldies Hotspur (m), 6 Tellhersomething (w).