By Molly Haines and Liz Whelan.

Whiskey Whiskers has stamped himself as a serious contender for Thursday night’s Group 3 Launching Pad Final with a commanding semi-final victory at Sandown Park last night.

The Jeff Britton-trained chaser recorded a personal best first split of 5.08 seconds before charging home to win in a time of 29.30 seconds in wet and windy conditions, the fastest run of the night.

“It’s been a while since he jumped to the front and won like that, but we always knew he had the ability to run fast time,” Nick Britton, son of trainer Jeff, said.

“As soon as he got clear, I knew he was home.”

Whiskey Whiskers wins from box two.

The win continued an impressive résumé for Whiskey Whiskers, who is chasing his second age-restricted Group success after taking out the Great Chase Final at The Meadows last October.

“He’s right up there with the fastest in the kennel and potentially one of the fastest we’ve had,” Britton added.

He will jump from box eight in Thursday night’s final.

“He does like box eight, but in a race like this it’s not going to help but if he can jump to the front again that would be nice.

The opening semi-final belonged to Blue Storm, who produced one of the runs of the series to qualify for the final.

After missing the start and settling last, Blue Storm remained at the tail of the field for much of the race before launching a powerful run down the outside to score in 30.19 seconds – getting up by just 0.09 seconds in a breathtaking finish.

“The most astonishing run you will see,” Race caller Dan Hibberd said.

Blue Storm has drawn box two in the final, with the top four finishers from each semi progressing to Thursday night’s decider at Sandown Park.

Blue Storm wins his semi-final of the Launching Pad from box one. 

GROUP 3 LAUNCHING PAD BOX DRAW

1             HOUSE OF SINS                           ANTHONY AZZOPARDI

2             BLUE STORM                                  BROOKE ENNIS

3             NOT AGAIN                                      JOSHUA FORMOSA

4             HIGHLY POTENT                          JAMES PRESUTTO

5             PERCY                                                 PAUL ABELA

6             BLACK STAR RIOT                        ANTHONY AZZOPARDI

7             REPEAT THE SAME                      JOSHUA FORMOSA

8             WHISKEY WHISKERS                JEFFREY BRITTON

RESERVES

9             UPENDED                                        JOSHUA FORMOSA

10          ALGEBRA                                          JANE GARLAND