WIDE OPEN followed up her impressive performance in the first round with another fastest-of-the-afternoon effort in the second round of the Matchbook Betting Exchange Maiden Derby at Towcester on Sunday.

The Irish-trained runner had made an impressive UK debut seven days previously and Brendan Matthews’ bitch followed up with a similar effort in heat three, pacing up into the lead by the first bend and scooting clear for a two and three-quarter lengths success over Nathan Hunt’s Storys Peewee and Jamie Kingsley’s Hellofakerfuffle in 29.18sec (normal).

Damien Matthews, son and assistant of the winning trainer, said: “I suppose she’s the new kid on the block for us and we’re delighted. Spring is in the air, she’s running really well in the Maiden Derby, and the English Derby is just around the corner. Yes, she has a tough draw in the semis, but we’ll have to get on with it and hope for the best.

“As her name suggests, most of these events are wide open but she’s showing up great at Towcester to date. We thought she was really unlucky in the heats of the Kirby Memorial at Limerick, but I suppose Limerick’s loss is Towcester’s gain now because we could re-route her to England.

“She’s only 20 months old but is running some big races already. The Puppy Oaks at Shelbourne was an option but her style and the trip suits Towcester more, plus it gives her some good preparation for the (Star Sports/TRC) English Derby.

“As for Sunday, you probably couldn’t have asked for a worse make-up. She could well be the meat in the sandwich between Farneys Maestro and Swift Iconic but we’ll take our chance, of course. We’re just delighted to be there.”

The second round began with victory for Bradley Stowe’s Zazzeras Jack who also followed up an impressive first round effort with another all-the-way success in heat one. The two-year-old was never headed in winning by four lengths from Jason Bloomfield’s Savana Camino and Liz McNair’s Havana Robusto in 29.65sec.

Kevin Boon’s Farneys Maestro also made it two-from-two in the 500m event with victory in heat two with a fastest-of-the-round 4.12sec sectional setting up victory, albeit ante-post favourite Coolavanny Shado also starred in this heat.

The pair had the race between them from the start, with the eventual winner coming again to win by three-quarters of a length from the Patrick Janssens-trained runner, who at led from the first bend to the run-in, in 29.47sec. Heather Dimmock’s Peejays Forever finished third here for a place in Sunday’s semi-finals.

Liz McNair’s Havana Lover, impressive in the first round, wrapped up the second round action with another strong-running performance in heat four. Led for much of the way by John Mullins’s Swift Iconic (4.13sec sectional), the Northern Puppy semi-finalist came through powerfully to win by three-quarters of a length from Swift Iconic.

Third here and making it through was Paul Burr’s Supa Nova. The winning time 29.49sec.

 

Trap draw for Sunday’s Matchbook Betting Exchange Maiden Derby semi-finals: https://towcester-racecourse.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/MD2.pdf

Results: https://www.gbgb.org.uk/meeting/?meetingId=384095&raceId=832314