Ox just strong enough to score at Monmore

OLLIE THE OX dug deep at Monmore on Thursday night to hang on in a thrilling finish to the £500 Ladbrokes.com 480 final.

Kevin Hutton’s dog, a Puppy Collar finalist at his former Oxford base last year and more recently a Laurels semi-finalist at Dunstall Park, has taken a shine to the Wolverhampton circuit and was winning for the third time in four consecutive runs over the 480m course.

Breaking smartly from trap one, the 10-11 favourite had kennelmate Signet Nayla on his shoulder for most of the contest, but was always just holding her and then gamely withstood the flying late run of Nathan Hunt’s Cascabel to win in 28.36sec (normal for all), with the distances a head and short head.

There was no camera required in the preceding Ladbrokes.com 264 Maiden final as Pat Curtin’s Longacres Danny proved too fleet of foot for his sprint rivals. The 4-6 favourite made all to beat Brian Thompson’s Vixons Ricchezze by four and a half lengths in 15.30sec.

Kim Billingham-Hine struck in the Ladbrokes.com 630 final as her Onceina Lifetime swept past Hutton’s early leader Venetian Will at the fourth bend to beat Alan Jenkins’ Swift Youngster by two lengths in 38.08sec.

The winner was returned at 7-1 in a contest where Mark Wallis’s Newinn Cloud, the 4-6 market leader, missed the break and had to settle for third.

Wallis had earlier landed heat one of the Ladbrokes.com 480 Bitches with Bower Aoibhin (29.14sec) and later followed up as star stayer Vhagar destroyed her two rivals in the second heat of a 630m stake to win by almost 14 lengths in 37.26sec.

Paradise Sky took heat two of the bitches for Thompson in 28.30sec, while Richie Taberner’s Aero Boris (38.47sec) won the other 630m qualifier.

Thompson also sent out Goldstar Michael (28.53sec) to land the first of two heats of a 480m maiden event, with Esther Driver’s Nottingham raider Poppea Timmer (28.83sec) taking the other.

Draws for Thursday’s finals
 Ladbrokes.com 480 Maiden: 1 Beatties Casino, 2 Westway Macho, 3 Longacres Shotta, 4 Goldstar Michael, 5 Tromora Force (m), 6 Poppea Tinner (m).
Ladbrokes.com 630: 1 Champys Girl, 2 Carmac Cash, 3 Aero Boris, 4 Bandit Paddy (m), 5 Vhagar (m), 6 Longacres Daddy (w).
Ladbrokes.com Bitches Trophy: 1 Always Wrighty, 2 Venetian Jojo, 3 Westway Ruby, 4 Paradise Sky, 5 Bower Aoibhin, 6 Wise Tournament (w).

Invent has all the answers

SEAMUS CAHILL, fresh from his recent success in Hove’s Brighton Belle with Blackstone Opera, was back among the winners at his local track on Thursday night, led by Droopys Invent in the £500 Coral Standard Trophy final, writes Phil Donaldson.

Third in the heats behind Belinda Green’s Bombshell Bullet, Cahill’s strong-running 2025 Regency finalist turned the form on its head with a fast start to make all over the 500m course.

Paul Marchant’s One Slick Jamie was the only rival to avoid first-bend trouble behind the leader, but Droopys Invent was not for catching and powered home almost three lengths clear in 29.12sec (+20 for all 500m races).

That win was preceded by victory for Maxine Locke’s Annadown Wendy in the Coral Maidens Trophy final.

The Romford raider had led in her heat before being picked up by Derek Knight’s Candolim Typhoon, but kept pulling this time to beat Paul Young’s Bubbly Sheeran by a length and a half in 29.34sec, with Knight’s dog recovering from early bother to finish third.

Jason Heath picked up four wins on the night, with an early graded victory supplemented by a 500m open-race hat-trick courtesy of Droopys Deploy (29.13sec), Burrows Fizz (29.43sec) and Burrows Titan (29.62sec).

Cahill also enjoyed wins with The Hill (285m, 16.37sec, +10) and Powerhouse Duke (695m, 41.45sec, +30), the latter setting the standard in the heats of the Coral Stayers Trophy, with Dave Elcock’s Swift Megan taking the other in 42.05sec.

Quickest run of the night over the 500m trip came from Richard Rees’s Zenith Sultan, who bounced back from a first-round Derby exit to make all in a swift 29.09sec.

Draw for Thursday’s Coral 695 Stayers Trophy final: 1 Swift Megan, 2 Minstrels Six, 3 Ivy Hill Cherry, 4 Powerhouse Duke, 5 Droopys Rhona (m), 6 Bonandutoo (m).

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