Dunstall comps start with a bang and Bono beats his own Star Pelaw clock

Picture from Central Park X feed

Flaherty and Taberner at the double at Dunstall

Dunstall Park saw the opening round of both the Category One British Bred Puppy Cup and the Category Two Arena Racing Company Stayers Cup. The eight races in total saw doubles for John Flaherty and Richie Taberner.

Flaherty was responsible for the first of the puppy winners, his Ballycian Boy opened up the contest with a powerful finishing effort to grab the win after missing the kick and getting hampered at the opening bend. 

660m around Dunstall is on the short side for Greenwell Gypsy but she delivered her challenge to perfection, getting her head in front in the dying strides to give Flaherty a double. Having been last as the field took the third bend, it was an impressive effort for her to make her way through the field.

Taberner also doubled up with one in each competition, Aero Noduff taking a puppy heat and Aero Boris a stayers. The former won an A5 at her home track of Monmore on her most recent outing, adding a Cat One heat is a nice mark on her card.

Boris has been a strong performer for the kennel for a while now. From landing an A7 at Monmore for his first success back in the autumn  of 2024 to now having eight open race wins at four different tracks, he is hugely versatile with those open victories coming over four, six and eight bends. 

Bluejig Outlaw was the market leader for the stayers contest and he laid down the best time in the heats for Maxine Locke. The Central Park track record holder didn't pick up the running until coming out of the back but he quickly put more than five lengths into his rivals in an impressive 39.63, the fastest of the year so far on a track subsequently marked -15.

Tom Heilbron was responsible for the quickest of the puppy winners with Romeo Astron. He had absolutely no luck in the final of the Arena Racing Company Puppy Trophy at Sunderland but that level of form would suggest he is going to be one of the big players for this title.

Dave Lee took the other puppy contest with Untold Dinero. He had won on his debut for Glenn Foot before having a rough time of things in the opening round of the Sunderland competition. This was his debut for Lee, coming home well on top after picking up the lead off the second bend. 

In the stayers, there was a win for Malcolm Bosh. The Produce finalist has always been in the shadows of his litter brother Eagles Resepct, but he is a solid performer in his own right for Angie Kibble. A strong stayer over the trip, he was typically slow away but worked his way to the front heading out of the back straight for the second time.  

Four for Billingham-Hine at Monmore

Having won the first Trainers Open Championship at Monmore, Kim Billingham-Hine continued her run of form with a four-timer on Saturday night. with wins over three different distances.

Newinn Bachelor continues his role as flag bearer for the kennel, taking a 264m contest against new Silver Salver champion Ballinakill Liam. As with so many sprints, this was all on the break with the winner popping out in front and the runner-up mistiming his exit after his runs at Central Park.

Billingham-Hine took a second sprint contest with Beatties Shine, who ran out a comfortable four-length winner. His time was only six spots adrift of his kennelmate and given that he is still a pup, it has to be marked down as a smart effort, dropping into a race over two bends for the first time. 

Over 480m, it was Cashin Lee who got the job done in a puppy contest. He showed the best pace to the opening turn but looked a sitting duck turning for home as Aero Galactica loomed up for Richie Taberner but he didn't look like he wanted to go past, with his comment of eased run-in perhaps on the generous side and down to his age.

The final winner of the night brought up the four-timer with Droopys Poker landing a 630m race. A recent semi-finalist in the Three Steps To Victory at Sheffield. he made a winning debut over six bends with a three and a half length victory.

Mike Burton grabbed a pair of winners led by Carrick Scholsey. He was taking on his kennelmate Face The Storm over six bends, the money coming for the right one as the more experienced of the pair timed his break perfectly to set himself on the way to a win from the opening strides. 

Magical Hawk had got the double started earlier in the evening with a comfortable success in a puppy race. He was getting off the mark at the sixth time of asking for the kennel having won the only time that he was seen in action in Ireland. A litter brother to Irish Oaks winner Lennies Ash and a half to Magical Luka, he has a pedigree to build upon now that he has got his first win for Burton.

There was also a pair of open race winners for Gary Griffiths, who took the opening graded contest as well to make it a perfect 3/3 with his runners on the night. Runthelonggame was the quickest of the sprint winners on the night, exploding from the outside box to produce the second fastest time of 2026 over 264m.

The second winner came from Magical Keith who showed the best speed to lead early but looked a sitting duck having lost momentum when checking at the sough. Full credit to the son of Ballymac Cashout for not only getting going again, but for digging deep when challenged to keep his head in front. 

A real specialist around Monmore is Mark Wallis's Armagh Daithi. His 28.19 success was the quickest of the night over 480m, open race win number nine at the Wolverhampton venue for him. He had to work hard to shake off his pursuers as they headed into the opening bend but once he had wriggled clear, he just kept extending that advantage. 

David Page continues to produce Wise Tournament week after week to add to her impressive career beginning, picking up another 480m success. She has six wins in nine starts for the kennel, five of those in open company. 

The other open winner on the card was Nathan Hunt's Anglesey Milo. He had suffered a rough ride on Trainers' Judgement Night when representing the winning team but that didn't look to have done any harm to his confidence, pinging out and running away with things by more than four lengths. 

Brabon with a Central Park treble

Star of the show at Central Park was the Dan Brabon team, picking up three winners kicked off by Droopys Samara who finally broke her open race duck over six bends. She has long looked more than capable and has been kept in warm enough company, so it was a fully deserved success for her.

Swift Krab has been seen over shorter trips of late, stepping up to 491m for the first time since early February. He had made a minor final recently at Harlow and trips to that track have often sparked dogs back to winning form at their home track through the years. This trip is far enough for him but he held off the challengers to land his third open race success.

The treble was rounded out by Oioi Dannielle who paced up best to the opening bend. She was a recent A2 winner at the track, a level that she had also competed at when at Romford prior to that. 

Maxine Locke picked up a pair of winners, including Ballymac Blanco who set the quickest of the times over four bends on the night. He quickly asserted his dominance on the inside from the red jacket and he kept pulling away. to score by more than seven lengths. 

Headford Lily opened up the double for Locke, running on late to grab the money by a neck. She had run well behind Bombshell Bullet on Derby final night and has been pitched in deep the last couple of starts. 

A couple of sprints on the card saw Cronody Zuma quicker of the two winners for Nick Carter. He had his card marked earlier on in the year but the litter brother to Ballinakill Liam was back to winning ways in style.

The other sprint went to Murdaniel Fin for Spencer Mavrias. The pup went straight into D1 at the track back in March and has had some tough enough tasks, so it will hopefully have helped his confidence to get his head back in front. 

Insane Gee Two scored over four bends for George Andreas in the final race of the evening. His other three wins had all come in sprints, getting off the mark at the fourth time of asking over 491m. He came home four lengths to the good over a nice progressive pup of Carter's in Barnfield Tonic.

Barry O'Sullivan took the other open on the night with Bling Bling Musk. He was the biggest surprise of the night for punters, greeting the judge at 12/1. She had to dig deep to win her six-bend contest, getting back on top against Jacktavern Lab who was a winner over a staying trip for John Flaherty before joining Mia Hewer.

Doncaster doubles for Driver and Fradgley

14 opens at Doncaster were split across plenty of different kennels with 12 trainers all heading home with an open race winner from the night.

Esther Driver was one of two to go home with a double, with Ballymac Lawless and Ballymac Panzara both getting the job done. Both of them made all of the running, with the former on just start number four for Driver, while the latter was picking up a second win on just a third start.

David Fradgley was the other trainer to pick up two winners, his coming via Look Smart and Kanturk Ace. The first named took the scalp of Droopys Buck, getting up late on to grab the win in the quickest 450m time on the night. The latter picked up the one of the two sprints on the card, the October puppy getting the better of some experienced types. 

 The slightly quicker sprint went to Susan Watson's Droopys Freebie. He had been given a nice tow into the contest by his kennelmate Shackleton Ace, grabbing that one on the run-in. Sean Parker was responsible for the quickest of the 483m winners on the night with Magical Supreme. His was the 14th time that 29.40 has been broken in 2026.

Three staying races on the card went to Jameson Johnny, Ballintubberstar and Homestead Anna for Sean Davy, Barry Denby and Michelle Brown respectively. The first pair were both odds-on to land their contests while the last of those was the one to turn over an odds-on favourite.

There were another three 450m races on the card, the quickest of those going to Catunda Ciaran in the veterans race for Stephen Naylor. Gothic Joshua picked up a win for the second week on the bounce for Samantha Lapidge and Acomb Olga took the other for Kevin Ferguson. 

The night closed with a pair of 483m contests which went to Thurlesbeg Lexy for Rose Draper and Vair Twinkletoes for Kay Lempard. Draper has enjoyed plenty of success this year at the track while Lempard was scoring her first open race winner. 

Bono lowers his own Star Pelaw sprint clock

Another four spots came off the sprint track record of Foulkscourt Bono as he bettered his own mark for Glenn Foot. He timed his break perfectly to get himself away and gone, avoiding the trouble behind him at the opening bend as a result. It was win number seven in race number 14 for Foot, adding to a pair of recent wins at Newcastle. 

Foot picked up a double courtesy of Funky Noodle. He also showed by far the best early gears to get himself to the front early on in another sprint contest. He ended up almost six lengths ahead of his nearest rival come the line. 

Sunnyside Gurkha won for the first time for Cheryl Ingham at the fourth time of asking after leaving the care of Ted Soppitt. His 25.46 was the quickest time of the night over 435m.

There was yet another hurdles win for Mickeys Tribute, adding to his record for Ricky Holloway. He only had a pair of rivals to beat, with both of those his own kennelmates.

Last summer saw a red-hot spell from Tromora Meg who won five times in a nine-race span. David Curry's charge turned handy enough to the speed to come home the strongest to get her first victory since March.

The six-bend contest was a messy one which was eventually won by Nicothebumblebee. That was by default as Holloway's Droopys Softy was more interested in trying to take her kennelmate Imonlytwink out of play which allowed the winner to pounce late on in the day.