Copney is Northern Puppy Derby first round Queen for Flaherty

Flaherty has the Northern Puppy Derby fastest

Copney Queen not only took the scalp of ante-post market leader Soapy Suds in the opening round of the Arena Racing Company Northern Puppy Derby, she was the quickest of the six heat winners for John Flaherty.

It was a serious statement to make on her UK debut. She had won two of her three starts in Ireland, a pair of sprints at Dundalk. She was well suited to the first try over four bends, clocking a time of 28.70 on a track subsequently rated -20.

The big clash in the opening round was Ballymac Buddy against Goldcash Warrior in heat three. Although the time was only 29.10, the slowest of the heats, there was some crowding early on which accounted for the clock.

It was Ted Soppitt’s charge who came out on top by a length and a quarter with almost seven lengths back to the third. Both of this pair are capable of much better when they get a clear run and they are serious players for the overall title.

Savva Roberts came into the event triple-handed and his Droopys Trigger produced the second fastest time of the evening with a 28.78 effort. He already has a pair of open race wins at this track as well as successes at Doncaster and Sunderland to his credit. It was win number six on career start 14 for the March pup.

Woltemade had a couple of rough rides since making a winning start to his career. He found all sorts of trouble in the semis of the Jimmy Wright Future Stars and then was knocked over on All England Cup final night in a race won by Ballymac Buddy. Jimmy Fenwick’s runner made a slick exit from a middle draw and never looked like coming back to his rivals.

Maxine Locke had three make the final in 2025 and she was on the scoresheet in the opening heat with Newinn Aero. He was another on the card who got to the front early in and stayed there, confirming the promise that he has shown in his trials at the track.

The other heat went to Backtoyourbest for Carol Weatherall. He was the heat winner who got to the front latest in the contest and even then he was in front down the back. He was a semi-finalist in the Jimmy Wright Future Stars before Christmas, winning his heat of that competition as well.

Hove four-timer for Seamus Cahill

There was a full book of open races at Hove as well last night where it was the Seamus Cahill team who came out on top. Chief amongst them was Blackstone Opera who produced a decent 29.44. It took her seven attempts to get off the mark for Cahill but had looked desperately unlucky on her sixth start, winning both times that she has been seen since.

Head For Home appears to have had plenty of niggles along the way looking at the gaps on his card and he was not getting off the mark out of turn when landing a 500m contest in 29.66. Hopefully he can use this as a springboard to go onto some further success and reward the patience shown to him.

A sprint contest was won by Bound By Belief. It was a messy old race, with the winning time 16.88. He was one of five winners on the night to sport the red jacket on his back. Yougo Jenny was also clad in red for her six-bend success. She has picked up an A7 and A6 win this year and relished the step up in trip for the first time.

There was a double on the card for Richard Rees, picking up the quickest sprint winner of the night with Avarua Lake and the fastest over four bends in Scooby The Boss. The former has looked a serious recruit to the kennel, winning all three of his starts for them. The latter has now hit a serious vein of form, picking up a hat-trick of successes.

Belinda Green opened up the card with the biggest priced winner on the night, a 12/1 scorer with Dave Allthe Way. He has wins in A5 and A3 prior to this win, and is clearly improving at a fair rate of knots. Jacktavern Mojo made it a Green double later on the card, grabbing a first win since his 33/1 victory on Olympic final night.

Another to notch up a double was Patrick Browne, courtesy of Playit Cool Trig and Gingers Tali. It was a third win in four starts for the former following A3 and A2 successes. The latter remains unexposed for her age, just 12 starts into her career, producing her fifth win.

Continuing the double theme, there was also a pair of winners for Jamie Kingsley. Sussex Cyclone and Sussex Storm were the winners here. The first picking up a hat-trick of wins and the fifth in just nine starts for this kennel. The second-named closed out the card for the same owners (hopefully they were on the double which paid 39/1 at SP) picking up her third win in eight starts for Kingsley.