Diamonds quartet aiming to shine
THERE’S no home meeting for Newcastle Diamonds tonight but there are four home riders in the field for the British SemiFinal at the Tyneside track today,
Robert Lambert, Steve Worrall, Lewis Rose and Ashley Morris all have a good chance of qualifying on their own shale – the first two with a real chance of winning the meeting.
Plus with Danny Phillips one of the reserves too that four could become five, giving Diamonds fans a really good reason for supporting such a prestigious event.
The 16-man field boasts some of the top British riders such as current British champion Danny King of Ipswich Witches, starting his defence on a track he used to ride on for the Diamonds back in 2014.
Redcar’s Jason Garrity and Ben Barker, who both scored heavily against the Diamonds in Thursday’s derby day win for The Bears over Newcastle, will be hoping to take that form into today’s meeting.
For the Newcastle quartet, Morris perhaps has the most to do; he’s not ranked in the top eight riders in the field, a position he will need to finish in to get through to the British final at Belle Vue on June 19.
However, anyone that has seen Morris perform round Brough Park will know he can mix it with the best, and the rider himself was in good heart ahead of the meeting.
“I’m looking forward to it. I know it’s going to be tough but I’m up for the challenge,” Morris said.
“I just need to make sure I’m gating and riding like how I know I can round Newcastle, I’m really enjoying racing at Newcastle so it’s nice to have the semi final there.”
Lewis Rose, also ranked outside of the top eight, has enjoyed some superb performances on his own track this season, beating many riders in the field.
And he’s a man on a mission after narrowly failing to qualify for last year’s final.
Rose said: “I feel good and I’m really excited about this one. It’s nice to be on a track I like.
“I’m confident. It’s going to be a hard meeting but I’ll try my best. That’s all I can do and then hope that my best around Newcastle is good enough.”
Tapes up at Brough Park tonight is at 6.30pm.