HAVANA BALE OUT produced one of the great Towcester performances when running right away from her rivals in the fourth and final second-round heat of the RPGTV Puppy Derby on Sunday.

Trained by Liz McNair for Brendan Keogh, Simon Senyk and the KSS Syndicate, the April 2020 daughter of Magical Bale and Comeout To Play was well away, racing to a 4.15sec sectional, before steadily drawing clear to cross the line seven lengths in front of Skywalker Forte (Ted Soppitt) and Callmesteve (John Mullins) in a rapid-fire 29.17sec (normal) for the 500m distance.

Towcester racing manager Andrew Lisemore was among the first to praise the precocious youngster after what was not just a standard-setting performance in this year’s Category One annual but one of the best seen at the track.

He said: “That was some performance and she really is some bitch. Actually, it’s been a privilege to follow Havana Bale Out and see the progress she’s made at Towcester since being beaten on debut here last month.

“After that initial loss, the back-straight speed shown to win her next two races was quite breathtaking and highlighted that she could be something very special. Even in the first round when not enjoying the clearest runs at all she finished well and was in front going to the pick-up.

“Now she’s added a ping break to her armoury, the sky’s the limit and she’s clearly the one they all have to beat in the RPGTV Puppy Derby heading into the semi-finals on Sunday.”

The second round had kicked off with a scrappy affair where the lead changed hands a few times before the Seamus Cahill-trained favourite Make Noise came through strongly to score by three-quarters of a length from Moments Of Magic (Kevin Hutton) and Smuts New Mut (Jamie Kingsley).

The latter was subsequently withdrawn from the event and the winning time of 30.57sec reflected the messy nature of the contest.

The Kevin Hutton-trained Signet Denver followed up a fastest-of-the-afternoon first-round effort with another impressive display in heat two.

The BGBF Puppy Cup runner-up paced up well and was clear off the second bend to score by one and a quarter lengths from Alien World (Frank Gray) and Romeo De Niro (Patrick Janssens) in 29.59sec.

Irish entry Swanley Alexis had been switched to a middle seeding ahead of the second round and it worked perfectly in heat three for the Jamie McGee-trained youngster.

He was quickly away and always in control when leading home an Irish-trained 1-2-3, winning by almost six lengths from the Brendan Matthews-trained pair of Maturereflection and Enthusiast in 29.74sec.

Trap draw for Sunday’s RPGTV Puppy Derby semi-finals:-

First semi: 1 Callmesteve, 2 Skywalker Forte, 3 Romeo De Niro, 4 Alien World (m), 5 Vacant 6 Maturereflection (w).

Second semi: 1 Make Noise, 2 Signet Denver, 3 Moments Of Magic, 4 Swanley Alexis (m), 5 Havana Bale Out (w), 6 Enthusiast (w).

Results: https://www.gbgb.org.uk/meeting/?meetingId=380114&raceId=797350