Bucks Yahoo triumphs in Ladbrokes Gold Cup
Bucks Yahoo gets his racing career off to a flying start after triumphing in the Ladbrokes Gold Cup final at Monmore over 480m, and bagging connections a whopping prize sum of £10,000.
A great achievement for trainer Chris Lund, whose charge flew out of trap one with great early pace - staying close to the rails to draw clear from the pack and eventually score in a time of 28.04sec, and overpower odds on favourite’ Blue Artisan at the last bend.
“I thought we were beaten with Harry’s dog [Blue Artisan] going well at the third,” said Lund, “but if you’re out in front, you have to be caught, and we managed to hang on. It was tremendous race and a fantastic moment for his owner, Fred Ellison.”
Artisan was always expected to face early trouble in the race [drawn in trap two], but did exceptionally well to recover from the early crowding and go on to claim the runner-up prize of £2,500 in a time of 28.08sec.
Chris Cronin-trained Boolavogue had been tipped up as the value bet in trap four, but wasn’t gifted with the start anticipated by the pundits and could only produce a best finish of third.
All credit goes to the new kid on the block, Yahoo, who was the original pace setter of the competition when clocking 28.17sec in last week’s semis, and proved again over the 480m that it was no fluke.
Any greyhound who picks up a category one competition after just five races, indicates a bright future ahead, especially when you’re up against the likes of Artisan and Ballymac Ace.
When Mark Wallis’s Eye Onthe Storm crashed out of the English Derby with a career ending injury, I assumed it would take a while before a new star of his calibre was born - I think that new star may just be Yahoo.