Local hero Aherlow Shaw produced a brilliant performance to secure his place in the Ladbrokes Pall Mall final at Oxford Stadium next Tuesday.

The black dog, owned by Keith Wakefield and trained by Richard Yeates, moved into top gear from the third bend to come home two lengths clear of Smart Bid in his semi-final on Thursday.

A few of the more-fancied hounds had to take a back seat as rain fell during the evening.

They will be hoping for a better surface in the £8,000 decider, for which You Mind Me is the likely favourite after skating clear early to see off last year’s runner-up, Dromana Max, in 27.24secs on going 0.30secs slow.

The big disappointment saw Dean Childs’s Droopys Loner bow out after trouble at the start and first bend.

Brittons Empire, last year’s winner, had to give best to Paddy Curtin’s Farloe Mysterio after experiencing big trouble at the first bend, where every runner suffered in the second semi-final.

But Farloe bided his time before moving up off the last two bends to hit the winning line half a length to the good.

Final draw: Trap 1 Smart Bid, 2 Brittons Empire, 3 You Mind Me, 4 Aherlow Shaw, 5 Dromana Max, 6 Farloe Mysterio.

Tuesday’s supporting card will also feature the Irish Derby Trial Stakes.

The winner will receive free entry to the Ladbrokes Irish Derby at Shelbourne Park in August, and £200 towards travelling expenses.

THE Pall Mall attracted 68 entries and many connections were left disappointed that they did not get in.

One trainer, Stuart Mason, felt that his greyhound Raise Me Up should have secured a place following a fast trial at Oxford.

However, according to racing manager Gary Baiden: “The greyhound had raced eight times and won only two races, one of which was a maiden division 2.

“The greyhound had been disqualified for fighting in October and had only raced twice since.

“The form did not stand up to the other greyhounds despite the good trial and the disqualification had some bearing as well.”