Ratings Analyst, Peter Walker, looks ahead to the semi-finals of the BGBF British Bred Produce Stakes semi-finals taking place this Thursday at Swindon.
The quarterfinals produced some significant performances at Swindon. Heat one on paper looked straight forward for Bang On Edith but it wasn’t to be her night. She was crowded early on coming out of trap 2 again and couldn’t recover enough so finished just outside the qualifying places. Not only that, but Keefill Goose reversed the previous form and won the race asserting round the last bend with a calculated improved time of 53 spots. Heats two and four went the way of the strongly fancied favourites in Coppice Ella and Union Rebel (no relation to my retired Coolavanny Rebel at home with me but has some similar traits), although the former had to battle to overcome the fast-starting Southfield Poppy by only a neck when crossing the line. Heat three produced a thrilling finish with Heather Dimmock’s Coffee Time Guys coming from last to first. Although the time was slower than the other winners, it was still a remarkable performance in a category one race over four bends. If he could repeat his earlier trial split of 4.08, he might still test the market principles left in the competition.
The remaining twelve include six from Kevin Hutton’s kennel and three from Tom Heilbrom’s. The semifinal draw has created a somewhat uneven appearance with three winners as well as the top three in the outright betting market all in heat 2. The good news is three still go through at this stage, rather than the usual two. Having said that, who could deny Phil Milner some compensation after his highly rated Keefill Maverick was knocked over in the first round with ‘Goose drawn as the only winner in heat one. Even so, they are all there on merit, and Peter Swadden’s Rock It Rambo defies his odds as the only local runner left in the event.
