Crew victory proves false dawn for Sandy Lane favourite backers

THERE was quite a start to theultimatetipster.com Sandy Lane Sprint at Oxford with three odds-on favorites beaten in the 253m event but progressing to the semi-finals, the draw for which will be at the GBGB on Monday.

The opening heat went to plan as the Craig Morris-trained Nightingale Crew (11/10F) scored. He paced up after a moderate start to get inside early leader Beaming Isla at the final turn, going on to beat Dunquin Rory by a length and a quarter in 15.20sec (-15).

Rachel Hill's Fluff The Start (7/2) did exactly the opposite of his name when taking a flier in heat two. He chopped off fast-up odds-on favourite Loveofmyown at the opening turn and held that rallying rival by almost two lengths in 15.01sec.

Jazzy George (evens) was just shaded in the market for heat three by Broadway Murty (5/6F) but Kevin Hutton's dog was an emphatic winner. Outsider Maggies Dream pinged but Jazzy George sped to the bend to hit the front at that point and came home over three lengths ahead of Broadway Murty in 14.96sec.

Dashaway Daisy (13/8) emulated Jazzy George both in turning over an odds-on favourite and also in posting 14.96sec. Maxine Locke's bitch and Avarua Lake (8/11F) both went up quickly after moderate breaks but it was Dashaway Daisy who won the race to the bend and she went on to score by a head from her chief rival.