Yesterday, the final of the Queen Mother Memorial took place at Owlerton Stadium in Sheffield. This competition, like many others at Sheffield, always draws in the Mothers Day crowds and yesterday was no different despite the poor weather conditions. Upstairs and downstairs were both packed with racegoers, gathered to celebrate mothers day, and see the incredible dogs on show.
This Cat 2 Competition runs over 660m, and awards the winner £3000. There was some controversy surrounding this years final, with people on ‘X’ suggesting that the draw had been rigged. It was claimed that the person doing the draw, Rob Crawford, knew who the dog in trap 1 was (Savana Heross) before opening the paper. Despite this, no redraw was deemed necessary and the final ran with the original draw.
The Final
The final was certainly an interesting one! As the traps rose, trap 1, Savana Heross was the quickest away, showing some great early pace around the first 2 bends and giving himself a 3 or 4 length lead. Trap 6, Hurry Up Jordan soon followed, running strongly on the back straight allowing him to overtake Savana Heross. It looked like the race was over there however, back came Savana Heross with one final push, which was all it took for him to take the winning position.
The pair stole the show and left the other 4 runners scrapping for the third place position. Trap 5, Dubai Kid eventually came through, taking the bronze medal for his performance in the final. Freedom Ellie in trap 2 originally entered as a reserve in the heats, and she finished 4th in this final. She certainly challenged Dubai Kid, almost catching him on the line but her efforts were too late. Trap 3, Innfield Charm and trap 4, Fridays Eske didn’t feature much this race. Fridays Eske was disqualified for deliberate interference on the 5th bend which left them way at the back with the pair finishing 16 and 21 lengths behind the winner respectively.
1st: Trap 1, Savana Heross (39.21)
Owned by Mr.K.A.Boothby & Trained by Diane Henry (Towcester)
2nd: Trap 6, Hurry Up Jordan(39.23)
Owned by Mr.I.Freeman and Mr.J.P.Lambe & Trained by John Lambe (Perry Barr)
3rd: Trap 5, Dubai Kid (39.73)
Owned by Mr.B.N.Owen & Trained by Craig Marston (Monmore)
