Get in there Boyo! Another big night of racing at Monmore Green
Another terrific showing from Catchem Boyo sealed Category Three glory on a high-quality night of Open racing at Monmore Green.
Preparations for next month’s major events, the Ladbrokes Winter Derby and Ladbrokes Golden Jacket, continued Thursday night with three Category Three finals and four minor Opens taking place.
And it was sprinting sensation Boyo who led all the way to claim victory in the Ladbrokes.com 264 final for local trainer Kim Billingham-Hine and owners Ms E Bowes, Ms V Campbell, Mr C O’Gorman and Mr L O’Gorman.
Boyo went into the final having won his heat last week and with the other heat winner Ballinakill Liam (Mark Wallis) withdrawn lame, the 7/4 shot seized the moment in a handy time of 15.47secs – making it three victories in a row across both graded and Open races.
The rest of the Opens on Thursday were won by away trainers testing their charges ready for the Winter Derby (480m) and Golden Jacket (684m).
Kevin Hutton (Oxford) took the two other Category Three finals with superb runs from Resonate and Kranky Drake in the 630 and 480 respectively.
Resonate showed grit and determination on the home straight to beat Aero Boris (Richie Taberner) by a neck, while Kranky Drake put on the afterburners over on the far side before beating Rackethall Brute (Wallis) by a length and a half.
Kranky Drake’s 28.22secs winning time was the fastest of the evening over the 480m trip, although the three other 480m Open winners were not far behind.
Turnthemagicon was one of two winners for Maxine Locke (Romford), clocking 28.27secs. Toddys Tank (Tom Heilbron, Newcastle) was the next to succeed in 28.32secs before Locke’s Droopys Dettori then chimed in with 28.31secs.
The 684m Open, meanwhile, saw Jet Stream Jane (Hutton) weave her way through the pack and make a late surge to grab the spoils.
In the trial session before racing, last year’s Gold Cup and Puppy Derby champion Headford Dane reminded everyone of his credentials going into the Winter Derby – which gets under way on February 7 – by beating kennelmate Yourself in a flying 28.02secs and will be one to keep a close eye on.
