Posts tagged shawfield

Ranger wants ibetX Scottish Derby glory

Droopys Ranger stole the spotlight on Tuesday night which saw him bag a victory in the final of the Owlerton Bookmakers Dual Distance Cup 500m.

Ranger showed sheer determination as he sprung out of trap four into the clear. It wasn’t an easy journey as he was up against a classy field, but fortunately for him half the field got caught up at the first bend, which pretty much gave him the edge on the night.

The dog, which only cost just over £3,500, has already started to impress owner David Roberts and trainer Christine Parker. Yesterday’s victory marked his second competition of the year, and as a result they have decided to set their sights on bigger things.

Parker said in the Racing Post: “He’ll probably go back to Sheffield next week, and we don’t want to get too far ahead of ourselves, but the ibetX.com Scottish Derby at Shawfield isn’t out of the question.

“We’d take him for a trial first, though. I think we learned that with him when we went to Sunderland without a look round – he didn’t trap like he can and then found all sorts of trouble.”

The ibetX Scottish Derby boasts an impressive first prize of £25,000 and is scheduled to take place in early April. Trainer Pat Rosney, last year’s winner with Cabra Cool has also got his sights set on a return to the Shawfield track.

Newlawn Class, November Weather and Tullymurry Act are three hugely talented four-benders representing Rosney, who will be aimed at not only the ibetX Scottish Derby, but the Ladbrokes Irish Derby and also the William Hill Derby this summer.

Bateson retains her title at Shawfield

Ardkill Tunoco (5-2) credited trainer Julie Bateson with back to-back wins of the ibetx.com St Mungo Cup. Tunoco produced a tremendous performance to reverse Boherna Best’s All England Cup form in Saturday’s £2,500 final on the 480m track at Shawfield.

Bateson always looked like retaining the title once Tunoco had flashed out of the traps and got first run on Best, who gave chase but never threatened to catch up with the leader.

Tunoco ultimately scored by more than five lengths from kennelmate Target Gold, who stayed on late to pass the All England Cup champion for second.

The winning time of 29.36 sec reflected a surprisingly slow track. Bateson said: “I don’t think the slow going affected the outcome, although I suppose it might have helped Target Gold get second as he’s a really strong runner.”

“We’ve always said Ardkill Tunoco is very good when he gets it right and that’s just what he did this time.”

“The St Mungo is a fantastic old competition with a brilliant trophy and one I’ve always targeted since I got a licence. A lot of credit and thanks are due to ibetx for stepping in at short notice to ensure it went ahead this year.”

B.Shah

Bateson targets to beat best

Julie Bateson took part in the Ibetx.com St Mungo Cup heats this Saturday at Shawfield. Bateson entered three of her dogs into the competition and was delighted with the results which saw her land a double chance for the finals next week.

The St Mungo Cup also sees the return of dual All England Cup Champion Boherna Best on the tracks. Trainer Barrie Draper certainly thinks he is in peak form at the moment and will prove a strong threat in the competition, while the markets certainly back him as a favourite.

The first heat kicked off with Target Classic (2-1) to represent camp Bateson on the 480m track from trap two, which put him up against a few popular names including Best. Classic was eliminated, however, seeing Gary Carmichael’s Sniper Petra (5-1) get the first run on Best (4-6F) in a time of 29.01secs.

The rest of the heats saw a different outcome for Camp Bateson, who’s Ardkill Tunoco and Target Gold justified (1-2) favouritism in heats two and three respectively, both finishing first.

Tunoco produced the best time of the day of 28.90secs, pleasing Bateson who went on to say “We all know about Tunoco, when he does everything right, he’s very good but unfortunately he doesn’t always do everything right”.

The only concern the trainer had for Gold is she believes he traps best from trap six. Having said that, that is exactly where the dog will be starting from coming next Saturday. Camp Bateson is certainly geared up to produce an exciting night for the finals – will things go their way?

B.Shah