MARCUS WESTGATE, the Yarmouth racing manager, hailed Roxholme Poppy’s track record-breaking run in the semi-finals of the George Ing St Leger on Monday as one of the great performances at the seaside venue.

The Hayley Keightley-trained star clipped seven spots off the previous mark – held by Centurion Enry and set in 2010 – when running away with the third semi of the Category One competition, which has been upgraded this year by sponsor Jack Cranfield.

Breaking smartly, last year’s Yorkshire St Leger winner was always in command and eventually won by seven and a half lengths in 40.18sec (normal) for the 659m distance – leading home local challenger Swift Tarquin (John Mullins) in the process.

Westgate said: “I’ve been here since 1992 – with a two-year-old break in between before returning as assistant RM in 2002. I remember Centurion Enry’s run, but you knew Poppy was on for something special.

“You could see in the heats there’d be improvement come the semis, but that was a great effort and just adds to a brilliant final. We’ve quality from traps one to six and are looking forward one of the best six-bend races you’ll see anywhere this year.

“It’s great we’ve local interest in Swift Tarquin, whom I’m sure Jack (Cranfield, sponsor) will be cheering on as an owner with John Mullins, and it promises to be a great night here on Saturday. We’ve a strong supporting card, too.”

Roxholme Poppy’s victory sealed a second finalist on Saturday for the Keightleys after their Roxholme Butt finished second to the Heather Dimmock-trained Stardom in the second semi. The winner came through late and strong to win by a length in 40.60sec.

Mark Keightley said: “In what has been a difficult week, having to withdraw Roxholme Nidge from the Derby, the performances of our pair at Yarmouth certainly put a smile back on our faces. Poppy, especially, was superb.

“It was probably the best performance of Poppy’s career, but we knew it was coming,” he said. “As each run has come and gone since coming back from injury, it’s been easy to see that improvement and we’ve been more and more confident about her.

“The kennel have made no secret we think she’s unbeatable off an early lead and a more concrete foundation and that belief was justified from what we believe to be one of the best, if not the best performance, by any six-bend racer we’ve trained over the years.

“We really do, and there’s been some great ones with the likes of Roxholme Girl and Roxholme Dream just to quote two! Poopy appears to have a good make-up in the final with no excuses, but as always it’s a high-quality final. She’ll need a repeat performance.”

The first semi-final went to the Michelle Brown-trained Slippy Maggie, who produced a storming run to collar longtime leader Ridgedale Max (Philip Simmonds), the winner coming from way to back to strike by two and three-quarter lengths in 40.37sec.

Winning trainer Brown said: “Maggie has come back really well from her season and it’s great to be involved, especially given we didn’t really think she’d make the final as it’s too short for her, but we always knew she’d be running home strongly.

“We thought she’d left herself too much to do at the first bend and I thought she was out, but she showed her class and ran one of the best races of her life. Now for the final and Poppy looks the one to beat, but good luck to everyone involved.”