Drums are beating for Fernando Bale in National Derby final
ANDREA Dailly has a great chance of landing both Group 1 finals next Saturday, after National Derby hope Fernando Bale sizzled around the 520-metre circuit at Wentworth Park, clocking 29.42 in his semi-final.
Stepping beautifully from box one on Saturday night, the son of Kelsos Fusileer and Chloe Allen recorded a flying first sectional of 5.32, clocking 17.70 in the back straight and a fast run home of 11.72.
Dailly's other runner in the second semi-final, Lektra Outlaw, finished six-and-three-quarter lengths behind the winner in second and has drawn the coveted one box for the final, with Fernando Bale in seven.
Dailly has another handy back-up in Dyna Tiber, which drew box five, while she also won two of the three semi-finals of the Group 1 National Futurity with Spring Leaf and Kerrigan Bale.
Last week's fastest qualifier from the National Derby heats, Winsome Mission, was made the favourite in semi-final No.1, exiting from box seven at $2.60. The Melinda Finn-trained chaser stepped well before being forced wide at the first turn, finishing in fourth position. Anthony Azzopardi's Topper Road repeated his impressive effort from last week, leading all the way from box five in a fast time of 29.80. The son of Oaks Road and Uno Emi clocked sizzling splits of 5.35 and 17.85, scoring by two lengths over Dyna Tiber. Finn's Winsome Prince ran home well to finish third and moves through to next week's final.
In the last semi-final punters launched into several greyhounds, with Jason Magri's Bad Boy Sniper starting at $4.20, just ahead of Zipping Carter which started at $4.50 for trainer Jason Mackay. Magri's talented chaser began brilliantly from box four, leading all the way in a blistering 29.43. The son of Dyna Tron and Isseymiyake recorded a new personal best time at Wentworth Park, bettering the 29.54 set two weeks ago in a free-for-all event. Zipping Carter ran a great race, finishing four-and-three-quarter lengths behind the winner. Finn's Maitland track record holder Winsome Jacko grabbed third and is first reserve for next week's $75,000-to-the-winner final.
Group 1 National Derby box draw
(Run Saturday night over 520m)
1 – Lektra Outlaw – Andrea Dailly
2 – Dark Vito – Edward Medhurst
3 – Winsome Prince – Melinda Finn
4 – Bad Boy Sniper – Jason Magri
5 – Dyna Tiber – Andrea Dailly
6 – Zipping Carter – Jason Mackay
7 – Fernando Bale – Andrea Dailly
8 – Topper Road – Anthony Azzopardi
Reserves:
9 – Winsome Jacko – Melinda Finn
10 – Whittaker – Julie Fletcher