VHAGAR has put herself bang in contention of becoming the first greyhound to ever successfully defend the title after comfortably landing – in easily the fastest time – her heat of the £10,000 Ladbrokes Summer Stayers Classic at Monmore and lines up a red-hot favourite for not just Saturday’s semi-final but the event outright.

Monmore racing manager Tony Williamson described the performance at the weekend of Mark Wallis’s brilliant bitch as “oozing class”, adding: “I thought she was exceptional. It was a superb run and she was quickest on the clock by some way.

“It’s always good to see your defending champions come back. Headford Dane, last year’s winner, has also made it through to the semis of the (Ladbrokes) Gold Cup and Vhagar is definitely the one to beat again in the Summer Stayers Classic and, while there’s a long way to go, she’s favourite to do something that’s never been done in the event by winning it again and plenty of people will be looking forward to seeing her again on Saturday.

“Saturday for the heats of both events was really good. It was a great night’s racing all-round with the terraces busy with cheering customers – the racing was really exciting, too, with some emphatic winners and top-class efforts across both competitions.

“Romeo Empire destroyed his opposition to win the opening heat of the Summer Stayers Classic. It was a dominant display from the front and was probably only outshone by Vhagar. I was also delighted to see Timmys Hunter win his heat for Pat Curtin – it’s always good to see a local runner win in that sort of company, so well done to him.”

Vhagar set the standard in the Summer Stayers Classic heats when racing away early in heat three, soon in command and on her way to a brilliant ten and a half lengths success in 37.76sec (-40) for the 630m trip, justifying odds of 1-5 in the process and she crossed the line clear of Rapido Benny (Ricky Holloway) in second. 

The Patrick Janssens-trained Romeo Empire clocked the next best time when returning to the track in tremendous style when running amok in heat one, the multiple Category One finalist and Arc Cesarewitch runner-up racing away for an eight and a half lengths win over Toureen Rose (Kevin Hutton) in  38.20sec (-40).

The other Ladbrokes Summer Stayers Classic heats were won by Angie Kibble’s Malcolm Bosh (38.71sec -40), Pat Curtin’s Timmys Hunter (38.93sec -40), Maxine Locke’s Newinn Jolie (38.70sec -40) – a victory which helped the Central Park trainer to the top of the GBGB Trainer of the Year standings – and Kelly Wilton’s Fortanach Col (38.40sec -40).

 

Photo: © Steve Nash