Mongys Wild is golden once again at Monmore
The remarkable Mongys Wild claimed the Golden Jacket title for the second year running on a rollercoaster night at Monmore Green.
The £20,000 Golden Jacket showpiece lived up to its billing as Mongys Wild - trained by Mark Wallis, owned by the MWD Partnership and the heavy favourite going into the race - just edged Droopys Flare (Sean Parker, Sheffield) in a grandstand finish.
A fair few expected it to be a shootout between the pair and pulses were racing when Mongys Wild, in his usual fashion of sitting back before picking the time to strike, got himself in front of Droopys Flare at the final bend.
The latter then found an extra burst to poke her nose in front, before Monmore's 684m track record holder wrestled it back and won by a short head in 40.54secs - just shy of last year's 40.42secs on faster going.
The £10,000 Winter Derby followed but ended up being a no race after Texas Jack took a tumble at the first bend and then ran across the centre green towards the final bend, with the hare being stopped in the interests of safety.
All trainers involved have agreed to rerun the final this coming Saturday, February 28, but Texas Jack is unlikely to be involved.
Wallis and the MWD Partnership saw Crafty Alejandro win the other final on Saturday evening, the Category Three Ladbrokes Winter Sprint.
The super sprinter shot out of the boxes and clocked a very impressive 15.07secs over 264m.
Over the marathon distance of 900m, meanwhile, Greenwell Gypsy (John Flaherty, Newcastle) finished well to take the spoils in 55.95secs.
