A tasty open treble at Towcester for Heather Dimmock

Dimmock gets three at Towcester 

It was an excellent afternoon at Towcester for the Heather Dimmock team, picking up three of the eight open races on offer at the Northamptonshire venue. Pick of those was Chasing Rachel on just her second start for the kennel and the ninth of her career overall.

She showed the best of her form over six bends in limited action in Ireland, winning a Waterford DD0 contest on the opening day of November. There was plenty of promise last week at Sheffield on her debut for Dimmock and backed that up with a decent 29.49 success on a track then rated -20. Her dam is a half-sister to the likes of Space Jet so further is going to be where she is seen to best effect later on in the year.

There was an identical time from her kennelmate Dunbolg Formula in a race where the three at the head of the market were all favourite at one point in the last 10 minutes before the off. Punters eventually landed on the right one as the market leader, adding to A3 and A2 wins from the end of November. 

Dimmock's third winner came from Droopys Mikado who dropped back to race over four bends for the first time since December 2024. It was a slightly messy contest but his stamina helped him late on, picking the lead up off the final bend to power to the line. 

It was a blip from Born Racer last week when he lost his unbeaten track record but he got back on the winning trail with a slick 15.64 success for Carol Weatherall. He is now 4/5 at the venue, with this his third win to dip into the 15.50s on calculated time. He is putting together a serious body of work.

Getup Me Izzy had kicked off a double for Weatherall a couple of races earlier. She was slow to stride but that was to her advantage, able to pick her path through to grab the lead off the final bend. She had won four of her first five starts for the kennel before hitting the woodwork in some decent company since. 

Over four bends, the performance of the day was Mark Wallis's Bruce Bay who was an impressive scorer in 29.18. He had shaped well in trials ahead of his debut last week. He came away well enough that day but a 3.95 split yesterday saw him away and gone on his second start, and it was all over before they got to the opening bend. 

Ballykilduff Gem had made a strong start to staying trips last week, clocking 43.20 when chasing home Lamorna Lexi in an S1. She was away and gone for Cornelius Condon and looks to have an excellent blend of speed and stamina. 

Paul Philpott took the other open on the card with Knockard Joe who caused the shock of the afternoon, scoring at 16/1. He won three straight over six bends at Doncaster in August, so with his stamina assured, he proved impossible to pick up off a 4.04 split.

Smart performances over four trips at Sheffield

It is going to prove to be a tough task to pick out the best run at Sheffield on Sunday as the four invitationals over four different trips were all won in strong times. There was a dead heat in the sprint contest as Rose Draper's Swift Hostile was joined right on the line by Paul Prior's Colliers Bucholz. Just 22 times were quicker than their 15.94 through the whole of 2025, with two of those belonging to Colliers Bucholz himself.

Tiermana Rocky won the 480m affair for David Fradgely. He has now won four of his last six and finished second on the other two starts, so he is super consistent. His 27.84 is right up there with the best of the times that he has produced during that spell, his last three splits coming within two spots from three different traps helping to highlight that consistency. 

The 500m race went to Romeo Force for Kelly Hodson. He picked things up late on in the day to run away with it, putting three and a half lengths into his field despite not hitting the front until halfway around the final two bends. 

There was also a stayers race on the card which went to Very Elegant. Sean Davy's bitch has now won three in a row over 660m at Owlerton, going under by a neck in her final race before the winning spree, so she is in rude health with herself.

Star Pelaw treble for Bell

Daniel Bell has only had his license about seven months, picking up six open race winners in 2025. He produced half of last year's tally in a single night at Star Pelaw, racking up an open race treble with Nah Then Keefill, Trimmer Marley and Four Over.

There have not been many more consistent types at the track than Nah Then Keefill, winning opens over both trips since joining Bell. She has three wins and four seconds in eight starts for the kennel.

Trimmer Marley has been finding his way in limited action since arriving from Ireland. He picked up an A6 on debut for Bell, going close in an A4 between Christmas and New Year, getting off the mark in open race company last night. 

September was the last time that Four Over had got his head in front, but he had been set some tough tasks in the interim. A couple of trips to Newcastle saw him run Derby finalist Zenith Tanju to less than eight lengths and then Ballymac Sargie to three and a half in the opening round of the All England Cup.

Speaking of Ballymac Sargie, Tom Heilbron's runner was the shortest-priced winner on the night, sent off at 1/6 for his 590m contest, coming clear by almost five lengths at the line.

It wouldn't be a night with opens at the track without Glenn Foot getting on the scoreboard, picking up a pair of open winners. Burrow Bell picked up her second open win of the year from the front over 435m. She has won eight of her last 13 starts stretching back to October 12.

Moanteen Pudding was Foot's other scorer, getting off the mark over six bends at the second time of asking. Her nearest challenger at the line was 80/1 chance Hello Me Man who had arrived on these shores after stopping the clock at 28.73 around Cork!

Blackbird closed out the night with Eden Dolly who got up in the dying strides to take away what had looked a hat-trick of winners for Foot. Here Comes Bob picked up the other sprint contest on the card for John Watson.