Betfair East Anglian Derby: Good motives to back Farloe Reason

Sky Previews / Darrell Williams / 10 September 2008 / Leave a Comment

Darrell Williams has a feeling that the event informally known as a "Charlie Lister benefit" will be won by none other than...Charlie Lister. Here's why Ninja Jamie and Farloe Reason are the two to beat.

A cool £20,000 is up for grabs in the Betfair East Anglian Derby, which kicks off with eight first round heats - with the final itself screened for the first time by Sky Sports a week on Tuesday.

Often known as a Charlie Lister benefit, given that he has won the race eight times, most recently with track record holder Geordie Parker in 2006, the maestro makes no secret of his love of the race and he again holds a mightily strong hand with classy litter brothers Farloe Reason and Njnja Jamie heading his quartet of contenders.

Both look potential winners and it's no surprise that they dominate the market, but it's the former that I prefer given his ultra fast 2751 trial the other day, a time one spot inside his former trackmate's clock. A dual Category One winner, with victories in the Northern Puppy Derby last season and the Blue Riband back in the spring, Lister's high class performer only returned to the track after a ten week exodus when running fourth in the Select Stakes, before unleashing a fast time back at Nottingham the following week. He looks primed to go very close to making it win number nine for Lister and is unashamedly put up as the lead selection.

Admittedly, it's not hard to make a case for Ninja Jamie either, who finished in front of his kennelmate when an excellent second in the Select, and he too had clock watchers impressed when also recording a fast trial (2762) at the same session. Winner of a competition at Monmore in June, I wouldn't dissuade anyone from siding with him and he provides Lister with an excellent second runner. Personally though I just prefer Farloe Reason, and while it would be possible to back both, the combined odds suggest an alternative approach of looking for a few bigger priced runners to trade makes more sense.

The three that particularly catch my eye are Movealong Blue, Slick Swainy and defending champion Blackrose Mars. The last named admittedly won a rather messy affair twelve months ago, albeit by nearly six lengths, and given that he has been off the track since March rates a potentially risky proposition. But his two comeback trials read well enough and he is certainly over-priced if anywhere near last season's form.

Movealong Blue has taken to Yarmouth like a duck to water capturing last month's East Anglian Challenge with a devastating trap to line victory, and can boast three sub 2790 times over the trip. With six wins and three runners-up spots in his last nine outings, Paul Philpott's runner is at the top of his game, and Farloe Reason aside, faces a relatively straight forward heat.

If I could only have one longshot however it would be Slick Swainy, who has the look of a very interesting contender. A finalist in the Irish National Puppy Stakes at Shelbourne in 2006, he was also runner-up in the highly recognised Droopys Kewell Stakes at the same venue last backend. Unraced from February until reappearing at Belle Vue in June, he has won all three of his British starts, all at the Manchester track and after a decent sprint trial at Yarmouth looks to have been under-estimated by the odds compilers.