Darcys Dude is quickest in the Coral Puppy Cup semis

Morris adds another Category One finalist

After landing a pair into the final of the Click Competitions East Anglian Derby on Wednesday night, Craig Morris produced Darcys Dude to scorch his rivals in the semis of the Coral Puppy Cup on Friday. His 23.61 ties him for seventh on the 2026 fastest list, trapping better than last week to get around in front, and with trouble behind he stretched his lead to six and a half lengths come the line. Populist for Gemma Evans booked his spot in the final as the best of the rest.

It was an excellent night for Michelle Brown who picked up a treble of winners, with Carrigoon Cece justifying her position as market leader in the final semi. She is clearly well thought of as she made her debut in the opening round, arriving off the back of a smart Cork sprint trial that is only three lengths off the fastest of the year. She was well in control early on the inside, stopping the clock in 23.80, with Westway Mario for that man Morris chasing her home.

One of the biggest improvers at the track over the last couple of months has been Dave Lee's Jacquesinthebox. He won in A4 grade on July 22, landing an A2 and a pair of opens ahead of picking up a Category One semi-final win last night. He produced a career-best 23.94 off the front, and there's very few in the sport who won't be happy to see Lee with another smart performer. David Mullins grabbed the other finalist with Paradise Probono.

It was an exceptional night for Paul Young on the undercard, picking up four winners. Underground Matt stepped up to six bends for the first time in the final race of the evening, producing a flying 35.11. The Betway Juvenile Classic finalist was a smart type over four bends but if this is anything to go by, he is set to be a force to be reckoned with over this 575m test. 

More of a test was an eight-bend contest on the night which went the way of Underground Navy. She has plenty of solid form over a galloping six bends and always gave the impression that a step up to a little further again would not go amiss. Only Princess Matilda and Innfield Fifi have gone quicker this year over 750m here.

The biggest surprise of the night belonged to Young who saw Crossfield Roger land odds of 33/1 in a 575m contest. The race was marred by some trouble at the fifth bend but to be fair to the winner, he had set his stall out early, leading up and putting himself in a position from where he could win.

Rapido Roisin provided a four-bend winner for Young in another messy enough contest. She picked up a hat-trick of wins at Hove back in March when she looked like a really nice recruit. Since then, she had been on a losing run of 22 but swept to the lead around the outside late on here. It will be interesting to see if this can now be added to.

There were also two winners on the undercard for Brown, with Goldcash Prince taking the scalp of the smart Coonough Laura over six bends. He was last to show out the traps but produced the best turn of foot to the opening bend to go around in front. Trouble on his inside sprung him into a lead that he was never going to relinquish. 

The first open of the night saw an all-the-way success from Brown's Lincoln Impulse. He had run well despite a rough ride round in the heats of the Puppy Cup last week, deciding that a 3.79 split was the way to go on this occasion to give him nothing but fresh air in front of him the entire way.

Ontherun Jamie gave Lee an opening winner of the night to get the kennel set on the way to their double. He cleared those inside of him on the run to the opening turn to just sneak around in front, taking a small bump on the way. He stretched on down the back which was a help as Mark Wallis's Allowdale Risotto went off in pursuit to keep him honest. 

Mullins picked up a win with Piemans Goalie who has enjoyed an exceptional year, grabbing open race win number 11. A 3.68 split saw him able to hold his position on the inside of his main rivals at the opening bend and that was the key move to give the veteran another success. 

The other open race winner on the night was Brother Patrick for Seamus Cahill. He had to ride a couple of bumps around the opening two turns but once he got himself to the front into the back, there was only ever going to be one winner, making it a double after an A1 win at Hove last time out. 

Sunderland double for Fenwick

Just three opens on the Sunderland card but that was more than enough to see Jimmy Fenwick pick up a pair of winners, led by the in-form Coppice Saphire. The veteran got the perfect tow into the contest from Ted Soppitt's Ballymac Buddy who set the early fractions but couldn't hold off the strong finish from the winner who swept past late in the day.  

Elegant Shadow had got the Fenwick double started with a bold all-the-way win in a puppy contest. Although she has a win over the 480m at her home track of Newcastle, that just stretches her stamina, which makes her perfectly suited to this easier four bends. She had enough pace to win a sprint open here and that set her off perfectly to add a second 450m contest to her haul.

A short head separated Born Scooby from Links Jester in the other open, Savva Roberts's runner getting there late on to pick up Tom Heilbron's charge. The winner was last crossing the line the first time around but he followed the runner-up into a gap that that rival had created at the opening bend to get himself into a challenging position.