Foot takes three in the Stewards Cup with track records set at Cork and Valley

Foot lands Stewards Cup opening round treble at Star Pelaw

The first Category One competition to be run at Star Pelaw started in fine fashion last night with some flying times and half of the heats going to Glenn Foot.

A 35.94 made Antigua Kestrel the joint quickest on the night. The veteran got himself a perfect second hare to chase into the contest with Ricky Holloway's Razldazl Paloma setting the early fractions. The winner pounced down the back for the second time having turned in a position to get first crack at the leader.

Just two spots slower was Witton Gucci. She has been outstanding in recent starts, bringing up a six-timer with this success as well as extending her unbeaten record at this track to 5/5. In a similar fashion to her kennelmate, she was given a tow into the contest and ultimately proved too strong for her rivals from the fourth bend.

It was Droopys Orator who completed the Foot treble. He came into the competition trying this far for the first time. He has some very smart form over four bends in his career and used that speed to blitz his heat rivals from the front. His 36.47 suggests he will need to come on for the first experience if he is to hold off stronger dogs in the semis.

The other joint quickest of the evening was Tom Heilbron's Droopys Bookem. He had shown up well in a trial here and the race went perfectly to plan with Holloway's Rapido Benny out and away in front. The selection has turned into a powerful six-bend performer in recent months and his superior stamina won him the day as they swung for home.

Phil Milner got one on the board with The Other Chief who picked up his first win over six bends. He had made the semis of the Coral Coronation Cup in a previous dabble with further when in training with Maxine Locke, and looks well suited to this sort of test, getting the better of Droopys Graph.

The other heat went to Hardwick Teddy for Stephen Caile. His was the first heat of the competition but it set the tone of the night with the lead early on taken by Holloway's Punk Rock Rose. She was in front until the run-in when the winner just proved the stronger  which given his prior winning form here over eight bends, was no surprise. 

On the undercard Holloway did manage to pick up a winner in the hurdles race with Mickeys Tribute, another to continue his unbeaten record at the track. His record over sticks here now reads 15/15 with just two rivals to beat. 

Colin Watson took a sprint double to close out the evening with Pothole Bob and Affane Fox both doing the business, just a single spot apart. Both of them sported the black jacket, with the pair using the same away and gone tactics to see off their rivals. 

There was also another smart sprint win at the track from Kilshenane Diva for John Watson. The track record holder produced her third sub 14.30 run of the year from the front to make it 7/11 with Watson.

There was a four-bend winner for Neil Brown as Pressure Tie got himself to the front at the third bend to add to a Newcastle win in August. The other open on the card went to Moonveen Belle for Colin Campbell. She pinged out to a very smart 4.48 split from the red jacket and had the race in safekeeping from a long way out. 

Setanta blasts Laurels rivals away with Laurels track record

It was the opening round of the Bar 1 Racing Irish Laurels last night at Curraheen Park with 11 heats of action. Ballymac Setanta made the final of the competition last year for Liam Dowling and set the track ablaze with his opening round win, clocking 27.75 to take six spots off a track record that he had equalled during the 2025 Laurels. 

There was another quick winner for Dowling in the form of Solo And Go in the final heat of the night. He had the misfortune to be drawn in the BOYLE Sports Irish Derby semi which contained both Bockos Gold and Bouncing Monarch, but showed once more here that he is a serious contender to these big four-bend competitions. 

Second quickest on the night was Sober Barry for Karol Ramsbottom. He too took a Derby quarter-final exit, his lightning early negated by a stumble from the traps. He was foot perfect with his trapping last night, quickly taking control of his rivals to run away by six and a half lengths from a smart type in Romeo Alliance. 

Michael Donnelly got a winner courtesy of Cill Dubh Cothal who scored in a smart 28.17. He is the type who needs to keep trapping as he is yet to show in his admittedly brief career to this point that he can miss it and still get the job done. However, this was only start number seven and ranks a career best. 

There was a wide-margin win from Droopys Monk for Barry Clancy, with only Ballymac Setanta bettering the seven and a half lengths that the son of Signet Ace put into his rivals. The pup made the third round of the Derby and has a 28.12 over the 525y trip at Shelbourne. He is clearly a very smart recruit, clocking 28.20 here. 

Shutinthedark is well known to locals for Kieran Lynch, yet to run anywhere else in his career. He too showed the best early gears to the opening bend to run riot by two and a half lengths. Only once has he clocked a quicker time than the 28.29 he did here.

There was a win from Mary Clarke's Microchip. It has been a while since he got his head in front, a losing run that stretched back to April but he picked a great time to find the winning touch again, scoring in 28.29.

The smallest winning margin of the night was the short head that Sure Exile won by for Andrew Lynch. He timed his run to perfection to grab the front-running Enoch Bark who had shown the best turn of early. 

The Racing Bucks Syndicate took the opening heat win courtesy of Blastoff O Henry. This was only the third start of his career and in seeing off Droopys Unreal and Ballymac Kamala, he put his name down as a dog to be reckoned with, even if the time was not flashy. 

Another unexposed winner on the night was Ned Kerrisk's Ropewalk Ranger. The October pup was making just the fifth start of his career, winning for the second time in his career. 

English Derby champion Lennies Eddie took the other heat for Paul Hennessy. He was knocked out of the Irish Derby in the second round and was the slowest of the heat winners here. Despite that, he got the better of the smart Coloursaregreen, and is entitled to step up on this in round two. 

Face The Storm blazes to new Valley track record

The return of the Welsh Derby sponsored by Star Sports has produced excellent racing so far and last night it saw Mike Burton's Face The Storm set a new track record in the semi-finals. He has taken to this venue incredibly well with wins over both four and six bends, but this was a stunning performance. No dog had broken 28 seconds at the track this year, he clocked 27.65 to run riot by almost eight lengths. 

There was a strong run from David Hunt's Sawpit Signature to take the opening semi in 28.14. He has been on a tear around here of late, and although he suffered a reverse in the opening round, he bounced back to prove too strong for his rivals in the semis, taking the lead off the front-running Gwyn Luka on the run-in.

Semi-final number three saw a minor surprise as Donna Davy's Fastlane George came out on top. Burton's Magical Hawk (who had got the better of Sawpit Signature in the heats) was sent off favourite, but a slow break meant that he was never quite able to get to the pair who enjoyed a great battle on the front end with Frank Bryce's Hoholetsgo just holding second. 

The Bryce kennel enjoyed an outstanding night with three winners on the undercard, led by the concluding sprint win of Lady Divine. She has three wins and two seconds in five open races over this 260m distance, looking well suited to the track, adding in a four-bend success as well. 

Dornoch was another sprint winner on the night for Bryce. The youngster showed the best pace to the bend and that was just enough to see him hold on by a short head. Baggios Bliss was the middle leg of the treble, scoring over 460m from the front, making good use of the red jacket. 

James Danahar picked up a pair of winners on the card, though his Quivers Quest had to share the honours in a dead heat with Gwyn Fleet for Joshua Morris, the latter making all the running until joined on the line. Quivers Blondie had opened up the Danahar double with a slick starting effort from the rails berth.

Devista continued his recent spell of decent form for Shaun Chappell. It was his seventh win in 16 starts for the kennel. Determined Orla took a win for Tony Morgan, showing her rivals a clean pair of heels on the run to the opening bend. The other open on the night went to Christian Darch and Vixons Lionheart who swooped around the outside of the field at the second bend to claim a sprint win.

Three for Locke at Central Park

With just a week to go until the start of the Premier Greyhound Racing Kent Derby, it was a last chance for any hopefuls to lay down their marker. Maxine Lcoke picked up three winners, kicking off with Break The Ice in the opening contest. He fluffed his start on debut at Dunstall Park and wasn't the best away here either but he has a serious engine to go to war with, pacing into the lead at the quarter mark and pulling out eight lengths on his rivals. 

Just a couple of spots covered Locke's other two winners, with Grouchos Simon marginally the quicker over Highview Lexi. The former is another pup with limited experience, riding a small rub at the opening bend to go clear in impressive fashion. The latter a touch more experienced, picking up his third win in six starts but the base of the team's 2027 contenders is looking strong.

There was a double on the night for Richard Rees, including a win for the 2025 Kent Derby runner-up Texas Jack. His 28.78 was the pick of the times over the 491m distance last night, setting himself up perfectly for another attempt at the competition. 

Dereks Legend brought up the double with a demolition job over six bends. He was quickly in control of his rivals courtesy of a sharp exit from the traps, steady puling further clear to run out an eight and a quarter length winner. 

Two other staying contests on the card went to Paul Donovan's Westwood Shay and Charity for Robert Emery. The first of those was stepping up to six bends for the first time and needed most of the trip to get his head in front. The latter is a known strong stayer who turned handier than can often be the case for her and that put her in pole position to score. 

Maree Goldiepav went into plenty of notebooks after an impressive debut last week for Luke Morrison. He showed signs of inexperience last night when making it 2/2, going via the town centre on the fourth bend but ultimately came home well on top. The other 491m contest on the card went to Distant Layla for Dean Childs who was looking for the line late on having got to the front early.

Four sprint opens filled out the card with the quickest of the winners being Cronody Zuma for Nick Carter, beating a deep field which included Ballinakill Liam. Autumn Elizabeth justified her position at the head of the market for Deborah Pearce, with Lady Kitty and Da Lynx Effect picking up wins in the other pair for Barry O'Sullivan and Barrie Backhurst respectively.  

Uganda and Jason lay down Dunstall Park markers for double header

Graham Holland sending over a team for the Premier Greyhound Racing Oaks should have home trainers worried, even more so after Newinn Uganda took the quickest win in the trial stakes last night, crossing the line more than seven lengths to the good in a flashy 27.90. That's two spots faster than Woltemade clocked when winning the Birmingham Cup!

In a sprint there was another flying win for Kevin Hutton's Magical Jason. He clocked 15.52, just three spots off the. track record set by Shadow Storm in his Scurry heats last year. The sprinting ranks have plenty of exciting types at present and Hutton's charge is the new kid on the clock, coming in and showing some serious speed!

With Lambe's Dapper Daffy was second quickest in the Oaks trials stakes, stopping the clock at 28.04. She was runner-up to Droopys Crispy in the Brownstown Tango and NTSC Open Unraced at Newbridge to start her career back in March, with this just her second outing since. 

Alright Tallent backed up her win from last week with another solid performance for David Lewis. She is a powerful type over this trip, getting the better of last year's Oaks runner-up Kilwest Diva as well as Bombay Special who was part of the Holland raiding party.

Kim Billingham-Hine had a finalist last year in the aforementioned Kilwest Diva and picked up a trial stakes win last night from Mon Amis. She got the better of an all-the-way battle with Richie Taberner's Aero Dash who kept her honest the entire way around but just could never quite get to her fellow Monmore raider. 

It was another Monmore trainer who picked up the other trial stakes as Longacres Trixie scored for Pat Doocey. A finalist in the Northamptonshire Sprint recently at Towcester, she showed that early pace to get herself clear of the field, and although she was paddling a little late on, she had done enough early to pick up the win. 

Brown takes Doncaster treble

Roanna Mamba was a sparkling 16.63 winner of a sprint at Doncaster last night for Michelle Brown, the second fastest of the year so far. It was win number 34 on start 73 for him. His success was added to by Conroy over 450m and a staying success from Azzas Angel. 

Grovenor Zoomie also dipped under the 17-second barrier in her 25/1 surprise sprint win for Beverly Heaton, living up to her name with the slickest exit from the traps. The other sprint on the card went to Allowdale Bingo for Paul Webster. 

One other staying contest saw a win for Select Stayers champion Radical Story for Craig Morris. The St Leger finalist found this a nice drop in class compared to taking on the likes of Droopys Flare and Zenith Pasha. 

Rose Draper had the quickest of the 450m winners with Rockmount Bob. The market couldn't split three of them and they filled out the frame. Ballyhimikin Aki opened up the card with a slick success for Samantha Lapidge over the shorter four-bend trip, always well in control. Droopys Gabby followed that up for Phil Milner with a narrow win from the front to win for the fourth time in six starts. Coonough Scobie for Nic Langley and David Fradgley's Radical Poet were the other 450m winners. 

Over 483m, the standard was set by Sandwood Gabby for Susan Watson. A hugely consistent type, she saw off Magical Harper who has been running well of late for Sean Parker. Parker had got on the scoresheet in the race prior thanks to Tromora Cross, another to pop out and make all the running. Flyhigh Bully and Trumpers Tucci rounded out the winners for Paul Meek and Kevin Cobbold respectively.