SAVANA VOLCANO produced one of the best performances of her long career when winning the £10,000 Ladbrokes Cesarewitch Final at Crayford on Saturday.

Helping her trainer Diane Henry and Kevin Boothby to a memorable day which included success not just in the Cesarewitch final but in the Ladbrokes Gold Collar with Savana Ruinart and Ladbrokes Kent Rose Bowl with Adeles Duke, the May 2018 daughter of Confident Rankin and Volcano was the star of the show well into her fifth year.

Breaking smartly and always handy before kennelmate Savana Regera took up the running before the winning line first time, the powerful Savana Volcano, the St Leger runner-up, always looked tough to hold – and so it proved. Keeping up the pressure on the leader, the four-year-old hit the front on the second circuit and went on.

Powering clear from hereon in, Savana Volcano came home five lengths clear of the always-prominent local youngster Beach Babe (Tom Levers), with last year’s Cesarewitch second Blueberry Bullet (Mark Wallis) running on late for third. The winning time for the ten-bend 874m trip was 56.04sec (+40).

Savana Volcano’s delighted trainer Diane Henry said: “I’m so proud of her. To be racing at this level at her age is just fantastic and it will be a sad day when her career comes to an end, but while she’s running like this and loving her racing then I’ll still be taking her to the track. She’ll tell me when enough is enough but she’s amazing.

“I always felt key to the race was being handy early and, once she broke so well, you knew she had every chance. I was so proud of her when she finished close-up in the St Leger when you think that was too short for her really, but this is great and, you know, maybe we can think about another crack at the TV Trophy next year!”

Crayford racing manager Danny Rayment oversaw Saturday’s gala card which included four major finals with the Ladbrokes Cesarewitch alongside the Ladbrokes Grand National and Ladbrokes Gold Collar as GBGB Category One races, supported by the Ladbrokes Kent Rose Bowl, a Category Three. He was delighted with how the day went.

“I thought the racing was tremendous,” said Rayment. “It seemed to have everything, but was extra special, of course, for Diane Henry and Kevin Boothby. To have won two Category Ones plus a Category Three was a tremendous effort and the victory for Savana Volcano was definitely one of the high points of the day.

“She’s just a brilliant stayer and marathon performer and like a fine wine might just be getting even better! It was certainly a vintage performance from her in the Ladbrokes Cesarewitch Final, even better than her semi-final victory. She’s a credit to Diane and her handling, but I’d also like to give a special mention to Beach Babe.

“She’s proven herself a real local star by finishing second to Savana Volcano in the Cesarewitch. In fact, for one so young given she’s still a puppy, she’s also done Tom and Jack Levers proud – just as her dam Beechgrove Bell did for many seasons here, too. It was one of the great stories of this year’s Cesarewitch.”

Result: https://www.gbgb.org.uk/meeting/?meetingId=391426&raceId=892116