Favourites fly in finals at Monmore

BOTH Maiden finals down for decision at Monmore on Saturday looked at the mercy of the favourites and the form worked out spot on as Shake The Bottle and Zenith Pasha comfortably justified odds-on SPs.

Shake The Bottle was sent off the 4-11 favourite for the Labrokes.com 480 final and never gave backers a moment’s concern after a smart start from trap one.

Brian Thompson’s dog was the fastest heat winner and confirmed his superiority as he crossed the line more than three length clear of always-second Datona Vamoose in 28.44sec (going normal all races) for the 480m trip.

Zenith Pasha had to work slightly harder for victory in the Ladbrokes.com 630 decider but won with even more in hand over the six-bend trip.

Jimmy Fenwick’s dog, sent off the 4-9 favourite, is now two from two over six bends after cruising to the front approaching the fifth, going away with every stride thereafter to cross the line just over six lengths to the good in 37.82sec.

Fastest run of the night over the four-bend trip came from Maxine Locke’s Headford Cian in a heat of the Ladbrokes.com 480.

Despite a slow start, he powered to the bend to lead round and kept up the gallop to cross the line a shade over three lengths ahead of Crossfield Enzo in a smart 28.17sec.

Toddys Tank turned over Wise Tournament (4-5f) in the other heat as he also made all for Willie Hamilton in 28.59sec.

Richie Taberner had a good night on home soil, taking the first of two heats of the Ladbrokes.com 630 with Aero Pepinillo (38.57sec) plus Adelinesfirstdog (Puppy 480, 28.92sec) and finishing with success in the maiden that closed the card for Slick Sabre (28.75sec).

At Doncaster there were doubles for Sam Lapidge with Cockneys Crafty (483m, 29.71sec) and Gothic Joshua (450m, 27.66sec) plus Dave Fradgley courtesy of Kanturk Ace (275m, 16.92sec) and eye-catching Look Smart (450m, 27.93sec), while the top performance at Star Pelaw was a near ten-length hurdles success for the high-class Mickys Tribute, who clocked 25.94sec for Rick Holloway over the 435m trip.

Draw for Saturday’s Monmore finals - Ladbrokes.com 480: 1 Countess Penny, 2 Aero Boris, 3 Headford Cian (m), 4 Toddys Tank (m), 5 Wise Tournament (w), 6 Crossfield Enzo (w).
Ladbrokes.com 630: 1 Zenith Sultan, 2 Roanna Sharp, 3 Aero Pepinillo, 4 Newinn Aero (m), 5 Onceina Lifetime (w), 6 Longacres Daddy (w).

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