Connie is quickest in the Romford Puppy Cup heats

Strong night at Romford for Locke

Six heats of the Coral Romford Puppy Cup were the feature on Friday night with Maxine Locke's Goldstar Connie producing the pick of the times in the opening round. He was the first to show and having cleared his fellow inside runners within a matter of strides, he spent the rest of the race pouring on the pressure to go further clear, eventually scoring by five lengths in 23.79.

Second quickest heat winner was Whisky Villarico for Nathan Hunt, notching 23.87. He was also the surprise package for punters on the night, sent off at 16/1. A 3.69 split got him to the bend about half a length ahead of his nearest pursuer. He had to ride a bump but his middle gears won him the contest before they got to the third bend. 

Populist got Gemma Evans on the scoresheet. He was not the quickest to stride but he showed the best pace to the opening turn to sneak around in front, going clear down the back for a 24.03 victory. He was being mowed down late by Paul Young's Puntos Opinion who took his career record to 0/8 but has made three Cat One semis already! 

There had been a couple of trials at this track back in June for Cloheena Caelan, though Seamus Cahill's charge didn't show more than a fair level. He has improved massively back at his home track of Hove in the interim and returned to just get the better of a prolonged battle with runner-up Churchfield King, scoring in 24.05.

One of the most looked forward to runners on the night was Craig Morris's Darcys Dude. He had produced a flying trial ahead of the competition, though he had to work a bit harder than might have been expected after a modest start saw him pace up into a bump at the opening bend. He rode it well and set off in pursuit of the leader, running that rival down on the run-in, with 24.08 the winning time.

The other heat winner represented Paul Young. Bellini Bullet made the most of her inside draw to slip around in front, always looking like she was going to hold off the challengers. Her 24.38 means that she is going to have a bit of work on next week if she is to make the final but with all puppy competitions, better is still to come from all of them. 

There were two further winners for Locke on the undercard, led by Headford Sarah. She has been nigh on immaculate since the end of June, winning seven of her last 10 now on a serious run of sparkling proportions. Not as quickly into stride as she can be, she paced up well to the turn, rode a bump and scampered well clear of her rivals.  

Over six bends there was a success for Finally Matched. He had been beaten half a length last week but got to the front as they exited the back straight for the second time and absolutely bolted clear for Locke, scoring by seven lengths. He tried 630m at Monmore twice without success but looks like further is well within his range. 

Coonough Laura was the one to beat Finally Matched last week, following up with another success for Mark Wallis. She stopped the clock in sub 35 seconds, looking like the MWD team have found themselves another Romford specialist bitch to follow in the paw prints of New Destiny and Fabulous Sonique.

There was also a win for a second week on the bounce for David Mullins's Brindle Bully. For a dog who stays further, when he produces a 3.69 split as he did here, he is always going to be a very difficult dog to contain, coming home almost four lengths to the good in a field that looked strong on paper. 

The opening race of the night went to Satin Barney for Dave Lee. He has made an excellent start to his career, winning five of his first nine and a continuation of sub 3.70 splits around here would bring him plenty more success. Quickly in control of things on the front end, he always looked to have the race in safekeeping.

Sharon Saberton took the other contest on the night, a 575m final with Rossa Vita. Her first three open race wins all came at Nottingham but she has added a pair here and one at Central Park, all over six bends since. She showed a good attitude to run down Bubbly Hogan late on having seen her own early lead taken from her by the wide runner.

Treble for Heilbron at Sunderland 

Tom Heilbron was the man to follow at Sunderland with a treble of winners from the six opens on offer. Romeo Vega was the pick of his scorers, with a sub 5.00 split quickly setting him on his way to a win. He was overdue a victory, showing the sprint speed he had when with Lawrence Tuffin at Towcester where he won six of seven. 

Shalefield Cunha came out on the right side of a puppy contest that saw the first three home separated by a pair of short heads. He has already shown some smart form in his short career, producing plenty of natural speed. Only a November whelp, the 450m looks as far as he wants to go at present, backing up a strong sprint win at this track last week.

It was left to Links Jester to round out the trio of Heilbron scorers. He showed the best pace from the lids but moved off from the one box before checking outside of the six at the opening bend. A messy third bend saw him sweep around the outside of his rivals to get his head back in front. 

There was an impressive victory from Jimmy Fenwick's Coppice Saphire. Her kennelmate Taylor The Best was sent off as the favourite for a bitches race but the dual Angel of the North finalist has really found her stride again through the summer and having shown plenty of courage to force her way into a gap on the inside at the opening bend, she blitzed her rivals for middle pace.

A sprint contest went to Foulkscourt Bono for Glenn Foot. He has been airborne of late, winning eight of his last 10 starts, running away with this sprint contest by four lengths to make it five wins on the bounce. His last two wins here are both in the top 10 times of the year over the 261m distance. 

Ted Soppitt was on target with Ballymac Buddy in the first open of the night. He was drawn between a pair of rivals who were both much slower away than he was which allowed him to take control of the inside without any issues. His main market rival was slow to stride which gave the winner first crack at the leader on the outside, in charge by the third bend.