Blackstone Opera causes 16/1 surprise in the Coral Brighton Belle

Opera gives Cahill plenty to sing about

There was a surprise for punters in the final of the Coral Brighton Belle with the honours going to Blackstone Opera for Seamus Cahill. One of two puppies to make the final, she came away best to lead up and avoid the trouble at the opening bend that plagued the majority of her rivals. 

She has been steadily progressing at the track this year, winning six of her last 10 starts at Hove. She tried Monmore for the Ladbrokes Puppy Derby there but missed out in the opening round, proving much happier back on her home track. She timed things perfectly to pick up a win at the right time after being beaten in heats and semis. 

After the trouble, it was left to Teddie to chase her home for Belinda Green with David Lewis's Alright Twinkle grabbing third. The runner-up heads to the Derby now while the third has shown her Oxford improvement has carried over elsewhere. Strike It Skye, Aayamza Shazza and Raebella Bullet rounded out the field for Mark Wallis, John Mulllins and Green respectively. 

The other major final on the card was the Coral Puppy Cup which went to Ricky Holloway and Rapido Benny. He was not the quickest into stride but paced up well enough to the turn to hold the inside. With middle runners to his right, he slipped into the lead coming off the second bend to hold off his rivals.

Although Wallis was out of luck in the big final, he had a pair of winners on the night, including Mongys Wild who picked up a 695m contest at odds of 1/18. He didn't get himself to the front until the run-in but he powered clear in quick time to run out a three and a half length winner. 

Bombay Nutty made it a Wallis double in another 695m contest. His time was only 13 spots slower than this kennelmate, getting himself to the front round the opening couple of bends. He looks to be reinvigorated of late with three wins in his last four starts, the only defeat coming in the final of the Arena Racing Company Grand Prix behind Vhagar.

Paul Young followed up his four winners at Romford on Friday night with another four-timer. They included the first three races on the card with Bowmers Wildcat, Lesleys Buddy and Bowmers Buddy, but had to wait until Bluey Bullet in the finale to notch up the fourth.

The two Bowmers dogs both came from a little bit off the pace to win their contests, the former over 515m and the latter a puppy race over 500m. Lesleys Buddy has shown off some smart speed in Romford sprints and carried that over to this different circuit with the final winner showing plenty of zip to get on the pace early on.

There was a pair of winners for Maxine Locke. Beaming Isla picked up a 285m contest, showing herself once more to be one of the most underrated sprinters in the country. Both a Cat One and Cat Two finalist, her 16.15 now tops the 2026 times table. 

Another puppy contest on the card went to Locke's Annadown Warrior. He set a new fastest 500m time of 2026 in the process, in just the third outing of his life. His litter brother Annadown Shadow is a finalist in the Bet St George Gymcrack this afternoon at Sheffield.

Richard Rees picked up a winner with Gucci Detail in a bitches contest where the first four home were covered by a length. Green had the other open race victor on the card as Incorrigible backed up her A3 win from last time out with a display that suggests she is capable of turning into a smart sort. 

Locke takes four at Central Park 

Maxine Locke had 170 open winners in 2025, her four at Central Park (and two at Hove) took her to 72 this year, well on the way to a number north of 200 for the first time in her career if she can maintain her current rate.

Bluejig Outlaw turned in the top performance of the night, setting new figures for the 664m trip. It seems to be falling at a similar rate to the Towcester 500m clock in the summer of 2024, but that aside, it was a sensational performance to pick up a hat-trick. He has won nine of his 20 starts and remains unexposed as a stayer, breaking the clock by almost four lengths.

The evening started in perfect fashion for Locke with a smart win from Finally Matched. The youngster had been a huge eye-catcher the week before when going under by a pair of short heads and made no mistake to get herself off the mark at the fourth time of asking in a slick 28.87.

 Another pup for Locke to score was Abigails Cian. He was rattling off a hat-trick over the 491m distance, really hitting form with a vengeance. A sprint contest went to Headford Wayne who got his head in front for the first time for the kennel.

Paul Donovan picked up a double courtesy of Thulesbeg Pablo and Cinderella Tell. The former has the second and third quickest times of the year in sprints at the track, stretching his unbeaten record to five since joining Donovan. Only Romeo Steel has ever gone quicker at the track.

Cinderella Tell was a finalist in the Arena Racing Company Kent Plate and enjoyed the lesser company to run out a cosy winner over four bends in a decent 28.79. Distant Hiker chased him home for Dean Childs, another strong run for the son of Droopys Sydney without coming out on top.

There was also a double for Dave Lee, headlined by £16,500 Towceter sales purchase Maireads Diamond. He clocked 29.09 at Towcester and a return there at some point for one of the supporting competitions for the Derby would not be any surprise. 

A sprint went to Another Solution for Lee, making a big step forward on his first three starts for the kennel. He had found a troubled path around in all three of those A2 starts at Romford but looked to find this more galloping track much more to his liking. 

It was a night for decent six-bend times as Capel Moon went just a spot outside of the 'old' track record with a very smart 39.78 win for Tony Gifkins. She was only two spots slower on the sectional than Bluejig Outlaw, producing a good run from the front.

Kerrs Rancher and Coppice Dakota produced identical 29.04 wins for Tony Taylor and Luke Morrison respectively. The pair were both quickly to the fore in their races. Mick Mavrias grabbed a win with Droopys Topnotch and the winners were completed by Martyn Wiley's Alana The Second. 

Donny doubles for Brown and Watson

'Just' the 14 races at Doncaster last night after a pair of weeks with 16 on each. Michelle Brown had to wait until the backend of the card to pick up a couple of winners but they came in the forms of Roanna Mamba and Bossy Bullet.

The former was the second quickest of 2025 at the track over 275m and took over at the top of the standings this year with a 16.72 success. The latter skirted the trouble in the final contest of the night to go on to score.

Susan Watson picked up two winners via Swift Kev and Vinegarhill Kurn. The former got first run on Farneys Wexford as the pair picked up front-runner Droopys Glam while the latter got to the front early to continue an exceptional run of form that has seen him pick up six wins from his last nine starts.

The best performance on the card overall came from Phil Milner's Keefill Goose. A lightning 4.02 split set him on his way to a best 483m time of 29.13. Only Romeo Tomcat went quicker last year and just Greenwell Coe the year before.

Ivanhoe Rose was the quicker of the two six-bend races on the night, scoring for Debbie Hurlock. The final of the dual distance was sadly missing Rockmount Lucy who has been a top performer at the track in the spring. Martin Haythorne took the contest with Rapido Ana who had finished behind Lucy on her last four starts over 661m.

Although there was no staying runner for Rose Draper, she picked up a 450m contest with Audience who made it four straight wins at the track. His 27.45 was the pick of the wins over the shorter four-bend trip, with Craig Williams's Abigails Marina also picking up a victory over the distance. 

483m is certainly not going to be the end game for Jimmy Gaskin's Jacktavern Beaut. She showed the pick of her form over further in Ireland, and will surely do so here as well but she got off the mark for the kennel at the second time of asking. Vale Speedy also took a 483m race, this one for Darren Fretwell to land his first open race win. 

There were three other sprint races on the night with Grosvenor Mona doubling up after her win last week, just a spot slower than Roanna Mamba produced. Cockneyjoelinton and Grouchos Davy took the other two for Samantha Lapidge and Malcolm Windrass respectively. 

Barnard and Craske split the Yarmouth opens

Four opens on the Yarmouth card saw Irene Barnard and Jane Craske split them with a pair each. The two 462m races both went to Barnard while the 659m contests went the way of Craske.

Strathrannoch was the quicker of Barnard's pair, clocking a decent 27.50. He is not a regular scorer, getting his head in front for the first time since November when he flew around in 27.25, the sixth quickest time of 2025. 

Whyaye Lass got up on the run-in to take the other four-bend open for Barnard. Craig Moris's Rockmount Kellie had set lightning fractions early on, on her return from a spell sprinting but she couldn't hold off the winner.

Over six bends it was New Ground who was the quicker of the two winners. He had come out on the losing side of a battle with Outdoor Cracker a week back, but with that rival taking on Strathrannoch, the way was left clear for him to take things by the scruff of the neck early and run out an impressive winner by almost eight lengths.

Lottie Blue got on the bunny from an early age in her six-bend win for Craske, clearing away by five and a half lengths. She is not long out of puppy stage but has already won five of her 14 starts since joining the kennel. 

Star Pelaw sees three for Power

George Power took the honours at Star Pelaw last night with a treble. The pick of them was Lotties Big Wave who stopped the clock in an impressive 25.50 in her 435m success, scoring by five and three-quarter lengths.

Mossend Magic was a smart sprint winner on debut. The September 24 pup had cost £6,500 at the Towcester pre-Derby sales and set about recouping the first instalment of that in style. Mossend Fox was the opening leg of the treble, getting up in the final strides to justify favouritism. 

There was a double for Nottingham trainer Neil Chapman who saw Glenhead Grace come home too strongly in an early contest on the evening before doubling up with the very well backed Tally Ho Swift.

Glenn Foot was another trainer to pick up a double on the night courtesy of Tickets Outlaw and Moanteen Pudding. The first named was the quickest of the sprint winners on the card. 

Killieford Hanna was surprisingly easy in the market ahead of her win, and having missed the break, she had to dig deep to get up late on to score for Roy Smith. It was a third win on the bounce for the near veteran.

There was a winner for Robert Thompson with Malibu Jota who won an eventful maiden sprint contest while a six-bend race went to Sheilas Sky for Colin Campbell.