William Hill Birmingham Cup

I managed to get to Perry Barr with my old buddy Dave Yanez on Friday. I was very keen to see Derby favourite Fear Zafonic in action. He looked to be needing the run slightly from a winter off as Affleck Elite beat him on the line for a short-head victory in fastest time of night, 28.31sec.

The Mark Wallis-trained Eye Onthe Brave landed the first heat just beating the fast finishing Killough Belles. Wallis also won Heat 3 with Goldcrest King. Little Jig really caught eye when winning her heat before the Paul Sallis trained Driving Up Pal won the next heat. In the last heat of the night my antepost bet Mountjoy Gold (20/1) was just beaten by Shaneboy Luke but qualified for next Friday Semi Final's.

Semi Final Draw - first: 1 Goldcrest King, 2 Bawna Boy, 3 Affleck Elite, 4 Hillcross Hobbs (m), 5 Driving Up Pal (w), 6 Toosey Blue (w).

Second: 1 Bawnfune Mal, 2 Fear Zafonic, 3 Darkdesert Fancy, 4 Anfi Ace, 5 Mall Nosey, 6 Shaneboy Luke (m).

Third: 1 KilloughBelles, 2 Directors Ruler, 3 Little Jig, 4 Mountjoy Gold, 5 Eye Onthe Brave, 6 Cabra Boss (m).