CONSISTENT sprinter Beaudine staked his claim on next week’s Tasmanian Derby with an impressive win in a heat in Launceston on Monday night.
Beaudine gave his rivals a galloping lesson in what looked the tougher of the two heats.
The Butch Deverell-trained dog began only fairly from box seven and was near last at the finishing post the first time but when two wide runners were checked and almost fell Beaudine darted back to the fence to avoid the trouble.
He set sail after the leaders down the back stretch and when he slipped into overdrive 200 metres out he gave the leaders a cold as he swept to the front and went on to defeat Zavance Man by 7-1/4 lengths with Simply Wunder over four lengths astern.
Beaudine has been a consistent performer with this latest win his seventh from 29 starts but he also has been placed 13 times.
Monahan Bully dealt punters a knockout blow in winning his Derby heat that was the second leg of the quadrella.
Monahan Bully showed plenty of early speed to lead to the first turn but a scrimmage allowed Bangkok Star to sneak through and steal the lead heading down the back stretch.
Approaching the home turn Zorro’s Legacy swept around the leaders to stake his claim but Monahan Bully came again to grab the lead on straightening and held on to defeat Bangkok Star by a head with Zorro’s Legacy almost a length away third.
The odds-on favourite Jethro got into all sorts of trouble early to tail out last but he ran home powerfully at the business end of the race to grab fourth and qualify for the final.