Doubles everywhere on Sunday at Sheffield and Towcester

Three trainers double up at Sheffield

A full card of 12 races of opens and invitationals at Sheffield saw Esther Driver, Rose Draper and Ted Soppitt all land a double at the Sunday afternoon fixture. 

Driver kicked off the action with a sprint win from Skyfall Dingo. He had made a winning debut over 280m at this track last month before finding the likes of Born Racer a little too tough on just his second start. In puppy company here, he was back in calmer waters and he made no mistake.

Born Racer was a winner later on in the card for Carol Weatherall. His wins have tended to come in bunches in his career, so he might be able to add to his last two wins with another one or two in the coming weeks. 

Another puppy winner for Driver brought up the double in the form of Skyfall Khan. He has a few more miles on the clock than his kennelmate having picked up graded wins over both two and four bends at Nottingham. This was his breakthrough at open level.

Sprint track record holder Swift Hostile added another win to his tally for Rose Draper. He has a 50% strike rate through the first 20 starts of his career, with nine of those wins coming at this track. He was quickly in control of his rivals, running out a fluent six and a half length winner.

The Draper double was started by Redentor who produced a flying 4.20 split over 500m on his way to victory. It was the first ever start for the August puppy who will have gone in plenty of notebooks after that display. He is part of a litter by Australian sire My Redeemer, the first litter to hit the track in Ireland or the UK by that sire.

Ted Soppitt picked up his double in back-to-back races, starting with Ballymac Buddy. He had not looked totally in love with the track on prior visits, getting knocked out of the Gymcrack in the opening round but he got on the bunny early to get enough of a lead to hold off a decent field, led home by last year's Derby semi-finalist No Better Feelin.

Sunnyside Jayden completed the double with a sprint success from the front, justifying his short odds in the market. He was picking up the 25th win of his career, having never run in graded company and is still a couple of weeks away from his third birthday. 

The 2025 Produce Stakes winner Eagles Respect returned to six bends for the first time since the semis of the Ladbrokes Golden Jacket in February. Angie Kibble's charge popped out in front and never looked like he was ever going to be in any danger. 

There was another win for Diane Henry's Grouchos Cossie to make it three on the bounce over 500m. He has plenty of stamina so having tuned second to the leader, he was another who was always going to be very hard to contain.

Dunbolg Formula picked up a win for Heather Dimmock over 480m. He rattled off a hat-trick at this track back in March but had won just one of his last prior 10 starts. He had hinted that he was finding his best again last week when runner-up to smart veteran Carrick Fergie and he confirmed that.

Tom Heilbron got on there scoresheet with Five Ofa Kind who backed up his Sunderland win from last time with an early-paced effort that saw him just sneak far enough clear to hold off the late charge of Thurlesbeg Lexy.

The card closed with a win for Debbie Hurlock's Kilara Charli. He is a perfect 3/3 for his new connections having been 5/7 when trained in Ireland. His early pace is a potent weapon and his will to win is going to make him plenty of fans as the year progresses.

Kibble and Janssens with Towcester braces

Ballymac Cedric kicked off the Towcester opens with victory for Angie Kibble over 460m. He had been sharply into stride in two recent top grade wins over the trip but walked out on this occasion, having to pass all of his rivals to take the win. The pick of his prior form had all come from the front so this showed that he is capable of overcoming adversity.

The Kibble double was brought up by Haverhill Lass who was the longest priced winner of the open races on the card. She had wins at this level back in April both at Dunstall Park and at this track, getting far enough clear of her field at the third bend to hold off the late charge of the runner-up Arthur Minute.

Although Pat Godfrey was out of luck there, he scored an impressive debut UK winner with Arthur Bitter. From the same litter as Maxine Locke's Annadown Chip, Warrior etc, Arthur Bitter was unbeaten in four starts in Ireland, continuing that unblemished record with a 28.93 win from the front. He won by four and a half lengths and very much looks one to follow.

The other two opens on the card both went to Patrick Janssens with Yahoo Megan taking a sprint contest. She had her task greatly eased after the withdrawal of her kennelmate Rodriguez who was off colour. Sent off at odds of 1/5, she will have scared backers with a slow exit but showed her class to get up late in the day to score by half a length.

Half a length was also the winning margin for Romeo Ability. He got a bump at the opening bend which allowed Alright Precious to hit the front but with that one running off the second bend, the winner got himself back to the front before having to shut the door on the runner-up at the three-quarters mark as she tried to nose back up his inside.