Brown and Whitton with Suffolk Downs doubles as hurdles kick off at Star Pelaw

Doubles for Brown and Whitton

It was a sparser selection of open racing at Suffolk Downs on Tuesday night but there was still plenty enough for Michelle Brown and Darren Whitton to pick up a pair of winners each.

Brown kicked off with a winner in the first race with Golden Acre, though that looked unlikely turning into the back as Jason Smith's Westfield Raheem had stolen a march on the field. The winner is nothing if not game, however, and having chased home Laugh Alot on six straight starts, the daughter of Doritos Wildcat gradually ran down the front-runner by three-quarters of a length.

There was no seventh straight win for Laugh Alot as Brown's Bucking Bucks proved a formidable adversary. Blessed with plenty of early pace, the wide-runner got to the front early and with the Yarmouth raider getting a bump at the opening bend, it was all over bar the shouting.

Moaning Hearns is building up quite a sequence of wins at this track, scoring on five of his six visits since Suffolk Downs reopened last autumn. His 13.53 success was a new fastest of the year, beating his 13.59 from last week and his 13.61 in February to hold a clean sweep of the medal positions over 220m.

Whitton's double was kicked off by Moaning Mai Tai who came away better drawn in the middle than she had last week with the striped jacket on her back. The money all came for Coolemore Azzabi who had set the quickest 415m time at Harlow since 2023 when winning last week but the lack of track knowledge found her out as the winner skipped round in front. 

It felt like a strong opportunity for another Whitton winner in a maiden sprint but Smith who had been out of luck with Westfield Raheem saw his Alfies Jet break well to quickly take control. He won a D3 contest last week from the blue jacket but a middle slot in four suited him better. A half-brother to former 388m track record equaller Bettys Jack, the same track clearly suits him as well.

A six-bend open on the card saw Kevin Boon (who trained Bettys Jack) pick up the win with Farney Millie. She had to work a little harder to get herself to the front than she had in either of her other two starts over 548m but the end result was the same, seeing off another Whitton-trained runner in Blackheath Charm. 

Hurdles are back at Star Pelaw

Just two open races at Star Pelaw last night, with the return of hurdles racing for the first time since Crayford closed in January last year. They are not to everyone's taste and the first field was made up purely of four runners for Ricky Holloway, but hopefully there can be a challenge laid down by someone in the north of the country. 

The market got things right as Mickeys Tribute was sent off favourite, coming away in front and making all of the running. 26.35 is the standard for others to aim at for now, but it was on a track subsequently graded as -30, so expect the 26-second barrier to be broken soon.

Swift Yawn took the other open, a 590m affair, for Cheryl Ingham. Droopys Playgirl for Holloway was sent off the odds-on market leader but the local runner has been a revelation since stepped up in trip, picking up a hat-trick of wins after a pair of S2 successes earlier on this month.