Carrigoon Cece lands the Coral Romford Puppy Cup for Michelle Brown

Picture from the Romford Stadium X feed

Cece away and gone in the Coral Romford Puppy Cup

Friday night was a special one for Michelle Brown who picked up her maiden Category One victory with Carrigoon Cece in the Coral Romford Puppy Cup. She only made her debut in the first round so has made up into a star performer with remarkable speed, showing plenty of early pace along the rails from the red jacket to go around in front and have the race quickly in safekeeping. 

As the only railer in the contest, she had a plot draw on paper and so it proved with lots of trouble both on the run-up and around the opening bend to the quarter mark. That trouble saw both the favourite Darcys Dude for Craig Morris and David Mullins's Paradise Probono brought down in a melee which made for a slightly disappointing end to what had been a great competition up until that point. 

There was a huge run in second from Dave Lee's Jacquesinthebox. He has improved massively over the summer and probably isn't done doing so just yet. Populist grabbed third for Gemma Evans with Morris's other runner Westway Mario coming home in fourth.

To add to the night for Brown, there was a win for Goldcash Prince in the Quicksilver final. He had turned over Mark Wallis's Coonough Laura in the heats last week and once more he showed the better early gears to gain track position and she had no way of clawing him back. 

Paul Young picked up a remarkable five winners on the night, headlined by another eight-bend success from Underground Navy. She stepped up for the first time a week ago to great effect, getting herself to the front early again, pouring on the pressure to score by three lengths.  

Underground Matt added his name to the long list of winners when he scored in the final race of the night. He came away better than his rivals on either side to take control of the rails in the early strides and that was more than enough to see him also adding to a win from a week ago when he had made his 575m debut.

The maiden was finally broken by Puntos Opinion at the 10th time of asking, scoring in a quick time. He has made the semis of the Juvenile Classic at Towcester, the Puppy Classic at Nottingham and the Coral Romford Puppy Cup in his first nine starts, so he was very deserving of this breakthrough.

Another one for Young to make a breakthrough was Hazza Summers, this time off the mark at the fifth time of asking. She had some rough rides round in those defeats but she managed to get some clear air to work with on the inside and that saw her on the bunny at the opening bend. 

Bubbly Crusader went on a five-race win streak back in the spring before making the final of the sprint at Towcester on Derby final night. He has serious gears when he puts it all together as he did from the outside to deny Piemans Goalie a win in his 100th race. 

Maxine Locke was the third trainer to pick up more than one winner on the evening, with Headford Sarah landing an eighth win from her last 11 Romford starts. She has turned into a real win machine over the summer, scoring multiple times from each of the three inner traps. Old rival Bretons Girl had led her up but she got to her at the third bend to come home well on top.

The double was kicked off in the opening race of the night by Goldstar Connie. He had set the early best in the heats of the Puppy Cup, missing out by a head on a place in the decider. A half-brother to the super smart Cheque For Cash, he was won two of his first four starts for Locke and looks a perfect Romford type.

The best time on the night over 400m came from Brindle Bully for Mullins, showing his younger rivals a clear pair of heels once more. He has hit form with a vengeance again, scoring three times in his last four starts, getting away from them early on here which always means he is going to be very hard to peg back.

There was a winner for Nathan Hunt as Goldcash Warrior tried six bends for the just the second time in his career. The first of those was when he was sent off as the favourite in the final of the Time 3 Steps to Victory, breaking 35 seconds with this run off the back of a 23.80 trial over 400m. The Champion Stakes starts on October 9, and this would mark him down as a major contender.

Frank Gray picked up the other winner on the card with Makeit Again. She had emerged victorious in D1 company at her home track of Towcester back in early July, but this away and gone run was by far a career best from her, producing a very smart 3.68 split in the process. 

Sunderland treble for Jimmy Fenwick

Five opens at Sunderland last night saw domination from the Jimmy Fenwick team, picking up three winners. Ballymac Shontae was the quickest of them over 450m. His first open race win for Fenwick was over 480m at Newcastle but in general, he has been kept to sprint trips. This was a solid marker for the likes of the Classic coming up in November. 

Taylor The Best was taking on her own kennelmate Coppice Saphire in a bitches race, the pair were close in the betting but there was a wider gap between them on the track with the wide runner comfortably on top from an early stage. Runner-up in the Arc Puppy Trophy at this track in June, she has shown consistently good form since. 

The first winner on the night for Fenwick was Elegant Shadow. The 30 fewer metres that she has to cover here compared to Newcastle make a big difference to her, popping out in front in a puppy contest and never looking like she was going to come back to them, scoring by four lengths. 

The Classic is going to be the big target for Bockos Buster this autumn. Runner-up last year, Savva Roberts will be hoping that he can go one place better for him than he did for Kevin Boon. His pace to the first bend allows him to be competitive over both two and four bends, comfortably pulling clear from a nice type in Stuart Tighe's Good Teddy.

Although Tighe was out of luck over four bends, he had the winner of the sprint in the shape of Vialli. He has won five of his eight starts now since joining the kennel, including over two trips here as well as the sprint distance at both Newcastle and Nottingham.