Drink Up Zorro shows scant respect for elders; REPORTS.

Byline: Jonathan Kay

DRINK UP ZORRO (4-1) produced a tremendous performance in the second semi-final of the Henlow Winter Derby over 460m at the Bedfordshire track as he blasted out to an all-the-way success, writes Jonathan Kay.

Winner of the Trafalgar Puppy Cup at Oxford earlier in the year, the Paul Sallis-trained dog has made a smooth transition to the all-aged ranks and this was a striking performance as he never gave his rivals a look-in.

Mountjoy Gold tried to keep him company from the second bend, but it was a forlorn hope and Drink Up Zorro powered away to a three-and-a-half-length victory in 27.93sec.

The opening semi saw another victory for Mark Lowther's in-form Lavey Vieri, who had beaten Drink Up Zorro in round one. As in the heats a week ago, the 7-2 chance led to the first bend only to surrender the advantage, but he rallied in style and was in charge again at the third bend, going on to beat Kindred Sparky, who suffered a troubled run when coming through to challenge, by almost four lengths in 28.11sec.

The runner-up will be trainer Mick Puzey's last runner before retirement in the final next week. The former Walthamstow handler sends out his final graded runners at Harlow this Friday.

The third semi saw two popular old-stagers make it through with Ernie Gaskin's Cobra Striking getting first run on Blonde Dino to win in 28.17sec.

Draw for Monday's pounds 4,000 final 1 Drink Up Zorro, 2 Mountjoy Gold, 3 Blonde Dino (m), 4 Cobra Striking (m), 5 Kindred Sparky (w), 6 Lavey Vieri (w).