Black Opium appears primed to land her first Group 1 in next Thursday Sapphire Crown Final (515m) following a dominant heat win tonight at Sandown Park.

The three-time runner-up at Group 1 level, Jason Thompson’s speedster clocked a personal best 29.20sec this evening.

RELATED: SAPPHIRE CROWN MARKET

The first two placegetters in each qualified for Thursday’s final.

In another highlight at Sandown this evening, Mister Harlewood won the first of the $15,000 Gr8 Eight events to be run throughout May and June and stretched his winning streak to four since stepping up to staying ranks.

Meanwhile, superstar Tiggerlong Tonk fine-tuned his preparations for next week’s Harrison-Dawson heats with a victory over recent Bendigo track record breaker Jim Zarr Dashian in 29.26sec.

SAPPHIRE CROWN HEAT WINNERS

HEAT 1
6 TALULAH BALE (Heather Collins) defeats 5 NANGA DIVA (Anthony Azzopardi) in 29.52sec

HEAT 2
2 MADALIA MAGGIE (John Connor) defeats 4 CHART TOPPER (Robin Moore) in 29.41sec

HEAT 3
3 BLACK OPIUM (Jason Thompson) defeats 5 ORIGAMI ANGEL (Matt Lanigan) in 29.20sec

HEAT 4
5 SPRING FAIR (Anthony Azzopardi) defeats 3 ASTON SILK (Jason Thompson) in 29.64sec

2020 SAPPHIRE CROWN BOX DRAW:

Handler Seona Thompson greets Black Opium after her outstanding run tonight. Photos by: Clint Anderson.