Buddy is a length quicker than Bitter in the Juvenile Classic semis

Juvenile Classic semis produce close action

Only a length seperated the two semi-final winners of the Orchestrate Juvenile Classic at Towcester with Paul Young's Bowmers Buddy producing the slightly quicker time with his win, and Arthur Bitter taking the other semi.

Bowmers Buddy had scored well in the heats last week and another slick exit set him up to double up in his semi and gain revenge on Annadown Warrior who he was behind on Derby final night. The difference in trap exit was the key to this one, the winner producing a very slick 3.80 split while Maxine Locke's favourite pitched early on and lost all momentum, producing his worst race sectional at Towcester.

There was another Annadown beaten in the other semi as Shadow had to settle for second place behind Patrick Godfrey's Arthur Bitter. The winner had already shown plenty of promise, winning on his UK debut at the track in mid-June. He made it three for the Grangeview Jet X Annadown Cutie litter through to next week's final.

Godfrey was also successful on the undercard with Arthur Portion who took out a 460m contest. Just an October 24 whelp, she showed the best pace on the shorter run to the bend, picking up her first success at the seventh time of asking. 

It was a successful afternoon for Kevin Hutton who had four winners, across three races. Start The Engine dead-heated with his kennelmate Coppice Ferry over 460m, the pair going at it hammer and tongs throughout. The former showed the better speed on the straights while the latter cornered better on the outside to produce the finish of the day.

Tooreen Rose had got the winners started for Hutton in a 712m race, popping out in front and building enough of a lead early on to hold off Fabulous Heka who came within a short head of running her down. It was a fourth success in her last seven starts for Hutton, though she is yet to go back-to-back.

The final race on the afternoon went to Hutton's Jazzy Duke who turned much handier to the speed than he had a week ago, but still had to work hard to find his way past Slick Senator for Patrick Janssens.

While Janssens was out of luck behind a couple of Hutton winners, there was a pair of successes on the card for him, including Yahoo Megan who picked up a sprint contest. The veteran has won two of her last three, suffering a short head defeat in the other, so she remains in excellent heart for her age. 

Fabulous Aria got the opens started on the card with the quickest of the 500m wins. She has found her form again with a vengeance in the last couple of months and was never troubled to run out a comfortable three-length winner and make it five victories in her last eight starts. 

The other open on the card went to Carol Weatherall and Zappa. He looked to appreciate the return to Towcester having been beaten at Nottingham and Sheffield in his last two starts. He is 0/8 away from his home track but has won six of his 13 runs over 500m around here.

Levi makes impressive race debut at Sheffield

The Sheffield undercard saw some interesting winners yesterday away from the final of the Time Greyhound Nutrition Three Steps to Victory which went to Kelly Wilton's Fortanach Col.

Good Levi was the most interesting winner on the card for Sean Davy, making his race debut in a sprint contest and clocking a very smart 15.85 to get himself started in the best possible way. A September 24 whelp out of a half-sister to Ballymac Deniro, he has to be an interesting one to watch going forward.

There were two other sprint opens on the card, the quicker of which went to Diane Cross's Blow Out. She had been an impressive winner on her most recent outing at Doncaster and showed again that she is a smart enough sprinter at her level, dipping under 16 seconds herself.

Rose Draper had the other sprint winner with Clonbrien Robin. She had wins in A4 and D2 grade prior to this breakthrough at open race level. It was a messy contest but she hit the line strongly to suggest that there are going to be open races to be won with her over an easier four bends as well. 

It was a rare mistimed break form Grouchos Cossie last week that sent him out of the Three Steps at the semi-final stage. He made up for that in part with a win to close out the card for Diane Henry, getting himself to the front early on in the piece and always holding Kelly Hodson's Romeo Force who had found a little bit of trouble.

Hodson had had a winner earlier on in Clan Na Gael, comfortably justifying his position at the head of the market in a puppy contest. He had suggested in his most recent start that the penny was dropping around here, winning at the fifth time of asking. He has not won at Waterford until his fourth start, so he looks the type who improves for repetition at a venue. 

Davy and Marston take Valley opens

Just two open races on the Valley card with Donna Davy and Craig Marston picking up the sprint winners. It was Marston's Whisky N Coke who was the slicker of the pair in terms of win time, but he was also a huge surprise for punters, scoring at 25/1. A short runner at Monmore where he was beaten in A10 contests of late, he appreciated the drop back to sprinting.

Punters will have been much happier to see Davy's Tri Bella score earlier on the card, sent off the 6/4 favourite. She finished 2025 in red-hot form but has struggled to greet the judge with the same consistency so far this year. The litter sister to Santas Amigo would be dangerous if she could build on this.