Saturday round-up:  Scolari takes NI Derby
CAPTAIN SCOLARI (4-1) tracked cleverly from a tough-looking draw in five to land the £25,000 final of the Bettor.com Northern Irish Derby over 550 yards at Drumbo Park on Saturday.

First to show out the traps, Ger Holian’s dog was beaten for pace to the bend by Ruthless Man but needed no second invitation when that rival first slipped slightly then swung wide entering the back straight.

Diving inside to assert, Captain Scolari found himself pressed again by Ruthless Man, who attempted to rally, but there was no catching the new leader and he stayed on powerfully to win by two lengths in a competition best 29.67sec.

“I was confident he’d have won if he had an inside draw,” said trainer Holian afterwards, “but I was a bit worried about trap five. Royal Patrol being out [withdrawn from trap six] was a help, but fair play to my dog, he really put it all in.”

*SUNDERLAND continues to build up towards the William Hill Festival of the Racing which starts at the track next Saturday and there was a star-studded trials session before racing.

Fastest of the session was Seamus Cahill’s ex-Irish Loughteen Blanco as he clocked 27.28sec (-10) over the 450m course, while Dean Childs’s Curragh Kewell went round in 27.43sec which was significantly quicker than kennelmate Droopys Loner (27.75sec).

Dolores Ruth gave workouts to Razldazl Bugatti (27.55sec) and Cuil Cougar (27.69sec), while John Gardner’s Derby third Coolavanny Bert posted 27.80sec.