LIZ MCNAIR once again took the training honours as the Ladbrokes Summer Stayers Classic kicked off at Monmore on Saturday.

A year on from Havana Lover and subsequent champion Warzone Tom landing their heats, the same duo were back again to win their first-round contests along with Havana Bale Out and the hugely impressive Fromposttopillar, the fastest heat winner.

Last year’s Olympic champion, making his six-bend debut in heat three, sluiced round the Wolverhampton venue to clock 37.72sec (-15), winning by no less than 12 and a half lengths from Droopys Clue (Seamus Cahill) to become clear ante-post favourite.

The event kicked off with the McNairs’ St Leger champion Havana Lover leading home Derby third Cochise by a length and a half in heat one, making all the running off a fast start to clock 38.15sec (-15) for the 630m trip of the GBGB Category One event.

Havana Bale Out (38.30sec -15) then landed a pillar-to-post success in heat two from Hopes Woofwoof (Jason Heath) before Fromposttopillar and then defending champion Warzone Tom completed the McNair four-timer in runaway style.

Now a senior, the evergreen Warzone Tom was quickly away in heat five to scoot clear for a three lengths success from Lightfoot Falcon (Seamus Cahill) in 38.12sec (-15).

Mark Wallis’s Coonough Crow produced a powerful performance to strike in heat four, coming from off the pace before pulling away for a five-and-a-half lengths success over Droopys By Amile (Nathan Hunt) in 38.24sec (-15).

The remaining Summer Stayers Classic heat six went to the Ian Langford-trained Fridays Eske after he won the early battle with Teds Dexter (Nathan Hunt) before leading home that rival by a length and a half in 38.11sec (-15).

Monmore racing manager Tony Williamson said: “It was a fantastic night’s racing with the Ladbrokes Gold Cup heats producing the goods with some serious four-bend pace on show, but the six-bend competition was also top-notch.

“You couldn’t help be impressed by Fromposttopillar and the performance of the McNair team as a whole. Getting four Summer Classic heat winners was a superb effort from Rab and Liz – and there’s no doubt Fromposttopillar’s victory was exceptional.

“Watching him draw clear of his field was something special with this 35-kilo black and white dog clocking a brilliant 37.72sec with the sectional for the 210m trip at 12.38sec – also pretty special, too. That was a joy to watch.

“The closest time to Fromposttopillar’s was from a locally trained runner in Ian Langford’s Fridays Eske. Ian is our newest trainer and he saw his runner baulked in running last week before making eye-catching late progress. This time he left no room for error, pinging from the traps to make all.

“He’s in the draw for next week’s semi-finals when we can expect some more high quality racing.”