Sensational Bert flies in Henlow Puppy Derby

Coolavany Bert: Brilliant semi-final win in Primus Telecom Puppy Derby.

  PICTURE: STEVE NASH  

THREE Primus Telecom Puppy Derby semi-finals were the highlight of Henlow's all-open programme on Thursday night and Coolavanny Bert will head to Tuesday's £10,000 decider (live on Sky Sports) as the one to beat following another stunning performance.

Kelly Findlay's ace managed to lead at the first bend and showed his sensational trademark back straight pace to put the race to bed- beating Droopys Stevie by 5 1/4L in a staggering 27.19sec on slow going.

In the opening heat, arguably the weakest of the three, we saw Millwards Boom (5-1) escape first bend bother and virtually make all in a time of 27.89sec.
The luckless Droopys Edmond, trained by Charlie Lister, was a gallant second, beaten one length, and will be looking for revenge when it matters most.

A dramatic second semi-final saw Mark Wallis's Benkaat Blue beat Fifis Legendand Smart Bid in a three-way photo finish.
Smart Bid had led round while both Fifis Legend (2nd bend) and Benkaat Blue (third bend) found trouble when challenging. However, to their credit, both runners rallied gamely to force a dramatic finish with the winner clocking 27.90sec.

Draw for Tuesday's all-railer final:
1 Coolavanny Bert, 2 Fifis Legend, 3 Droopys Stevie, 4 Millwards Boom, 5 Droopys Edmund, 6 Benkaat Blue.