Woltemade on target as Fenwick ace sets Flat pace

WOLTEMADE spearheaded a treble for Jimmy Fenwick at Newcastle on Thursday as he cemented his place as the ante-post favourite for the Time Northern Flat.

Starting well, the 2-5 favourite was soon in command and drew away from Ballymac Buddy off the second, seeing off his rival by almost six lengths in a rapid 28.13sec (going normal all races), the best time of the round.

That sealed a quickfire treble for the local handler, Coppice Saphire landing heat five of the Arc-sponsored Angel of the North (28.69sec) followed by Bluebell Teddy battling home in heat six in 28.92sec.

Wicky Ned, the 2024 Northern Flat champion, was sent off the 6-5 jolly to land the final Northern Flat qualifier but a modest start saw him struggle in behind as Deerjet Rocket turned on the power for an impressive 28.34sec success.

Jimmy Gaskin’s dog took over from Mossend Brute off the second bend as he hugged the rails and then pulled away.

Wicky Ned plugged on for second, just over eight lengths behind the winner.

Mossend Brute’s trainer, Savva Roberts, enjoyed better luck in the previous heat as Bockos Buster showed his true colours after defeat on his debut for him the previous week.

He showed his sprinter’s pace to leave his rivals for dust on the run-up and was not stopping at the death either as he came home six and a half lengths clear of Droopys Sort in 28.38sec.

Slingshot Poppy had a penalty kick in the opening heat of the Angel of the North and did not disappoint. Brian Fairbairn’s bitch was rated a 1-10 shot against inferior opposition and duly put them to the sword, springing from the boxes and going away with every stride.

She crossed the line just over 12 lengths clear of Fabulous Harmony and matched Woltemade’s superb time.

Fairbairn landed a double courtesy of Slingshot Louie in heat two of the Northern Flat, but that was a lot less predictable for punters as he was sent off the 25-1 outsider of the field.

All the money was for Betgoodwin Tutts, backed down to 4-7f, but Diane Henry’s dog never got into the race.

The winner ground down pacemaker The Other Kodi off the last, getting up by a short head in 28.81sec.

Tom Heilbron was another to land a double, with his in-form Droopys Bookem completing a hat-trick when outstaying Grouchos Cossie in the first heat of the Northern Flat after a fast start saw him turn second.

He ran down the leader of the last to post 28.47sec, while kennelmate Droopys Link was soon clear in heat three and gamely held defending champion Naochra by three parts of a length in 28.58sec.

The other Angel of the North qualifiers fell to Darren Golightly’s Newline Kielty (28.73sec), Stuart Ray’s Blackhouse Kim (29.24sec) and Dave Lee’s Untold Ariary (28.61sec).

“I’m very happy with how it all went, the only downside is that Ballymac Service did a gracilis at the first bend [behind Bockos Buster],” said Fenwick.

“Woltemade was an immature dog early on but then he seemed to come to himself at Newcastle and in the last few months he’s really stepped up. We’re very pleased with him.

“At the moment Slingshot Poppy is absolutely out of this world, so for him to do the same time as her is brilliant. For a young dog that just turned two in May, he’s definitely exciting.

“Of course he’s a smash out and catch me if you can type, but as long as he keeps his consistency he’ll carry on doing what he’s doing. Potential-wise he’s a Derby dog for next year.

“The draw on Thursday is good so we’re looking forward to hopefully another finalist or two.”

Fenwick was not downbeat on the performance of Wicky Ned either.

“He was in the kennel for a long time, from half past four until the last race and he didn’t come away,” he said.

“He’s been soloing in trials and when he goes in with dogs after that he just misses it sometimes, while he also stumbled a little bit at the start.

“He’s got a lot of heart and he seemed fine this morning. He had been a bit wristy after Sheffield and Nottingham but when I’ve checked him this morning there’s no reaction.

“To be fair, the winner had done an exceptional run at Doncaster as well, and Ned definitely needs the racing.

“It’s a tough draw in the semi-final but we all know if he hits the boxes he’ll do a 4.50sec split or better. You can never discount him because he’s a warrior of a dog, and when they’ve been off a long time sometimes it just takes a while to get back.”

Draw for Thursday’s semi-finals - Northern Flat, first: 1 Good Teddy, 2 Ballymac Sargie, 3 Ballymac Buddy, 4 The Other Kodi, 5 Woltemade (m), 6 Mossend Brute (w).
Second: 1 Grouchos Cossie, 2 Kellies Emerald, 3 Droopys Bookem, 4 Deerjet Rocket, 5 Slingshot Louie (m), 6 Droopys Link (w).
Third: 1 Droopys Sort, 2 Naochra, 3 Zenith Tanju, 4 Wicky Ned, 5 Bockos Buster (m), 6 Saleen Ri (w).

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