Forgottotellya quickest in the Gold Collar semis

Wallis with fastest in Gold Collar 

A dramatic afternoon at Hove saw some big names get knocked out of the Coral Gold Collar as Mark Wallis's Forgottotellya set the semi-final standard. He had only been seen once in his career from the red jacket prior to yesterday when making a mess of the start at Towcester. This time he was quicker into stride, making the corner in front. Chased around by Ricky Holloway's Droopys Graph, nothing else ever looked like getting involved. 

Bikini Bullet has been in sparkling form since her exit from the Premier Greyhound Racing Oaks, making it three wins on the bounce around here for Belinda Green. She paced up best on the inside to grab the lead at the opening bend and needed her stamina to hold off 2025 Derby winner Droopys Plunge who had trapped best, booking his place in another big final for Patrick Janssens. 

The big surprise of the semis was the exit of Scooby The Lady. She didn't come away well enough to lead up Gav Nificent but heading into the back, the pair of them were in control of the race. The favourite went to challenge up he inside only to be chopped off and allow Romeo Tomcat to swoop around the outside for Janssens to claim the glory. Michelle Brown's Lincoln Impact came home powerfully out wide to grab a surprise second place late on to give Brown another Cat One finalist. 

On the undercard there was a win for Paul Young's Copney Queen who once more showed the suitability of this venue for her. She was the quickest of the three heat winners of a dual distance competition, with the final next week over the same 515m distance that she finished second in the Coral Sussex Cup over. 

Tedushi Ted was next in for Richard Rees, getting himself to the front earlier than he had done in any of his previous starts. The fact that he was sent off the outsider of the four given how promising the start to his career had been showed the quality of the three rivals that were behind him as he took up the running on the way to the opening bend. 

Paul Donovan was responsible for the third dual distance heat winner in Fastlane Blu. In common with the other two, he had exited the Gold Collar at the first round stage a week ago, getting on top early and then having to battle his way back to the lead late on having been done for a bit of middle pace. 

A bitches contest went to Exotic Princess who took up the lead at the third bend from Sussex Cyclone who had gone around in front from her favourite draw in red. It was a strong performance from Carl Gardiner's charge to win this with a couple of very promising youngsters in Lady Gambet and Sperrin Mist behind. The winner has been successful in four of her last six now and is one to keep on the right side of.

The other two contests on the card were maidens with Are We On winning in the quicker time for Seamus Cahill. He was quickly in control of proceedings from his wide draw which was in stark contrast to his only other run where he was slow away and was last in the early stages. He is from a line that the kennel knows well out of Pocket Lulu who herself was out of Banabane, both very smart performers for Cahill.

Croydon Missile took the other contest for Jamie Kingsley. He was very impressive from his striped jacket draw, his 3.47 sectional leading up a field that all showed decent speed to the bend before he pulled right away to score by five and a half lengths. This was only his second win in 18 starts, his other a 28.33 Shelbourne success.

Three for Fretwell at Sheffield

There was an excellent afternoon at Sheffield for Darren Fretwell with a trio of winners. Superb Morning was 1/2 to win his 480m contest and did so with a minimum of fuss from the front. His other two open race wins had come at Doncaster prior to this, adding to a win in an A2 last time out.

Panda Power had picked up a maiden sprint last week on his English debut, getting up late in the day to make it a perfect 2/2 since joining Fretwell. It was a race that changed complexion late on with the early leader fading into third up the straight and the first four across the line separated by barely a length. 

The treble was completed by Hollyhill Ace, another to land a sprint contest. This was a decent battle between the two outside traps as the winner was in front early before being headed at the opening bend by Drumdoit Onana who lost his chance running wide off the second bend as Hollyhill Ace took a better line. 

A shock kicked off the afternoon as Chris Fereday's Moss King turned over 1/4 chance Grouchos Frank in a 500m contest. The winner got to the opening bend in front, missing both the bumping on the run-up and the opening bend as a result. That allowed him to slip clear of what is clearly a nice recruit in the runner-up. It was a fourth straight win for Moss King who took his record to 7/11 for Fereday.

There was a winner for Rose Draper as Clear Jade took the staying contest on the card. This was a race that rather fell apart in front of the winner but visually, she was impressive. Last until heading into the fifth bend, she scythed her way through the field to lead off the final turn to score going away by three and a half lengths. 

Levi Prescott Jackson only had his first graded runners on Thursday at Kinsley after taking over the license from Trevor Coote. He was off the mark straightaway in opens with Terrys Belle who took a 480m contest from the front at 14/1. She produced a very slick 3.06 split to back up an A3 win from last time to beat her kenenlmate Crystal Zeus. Hopefully plenty were on the £102.23 forecast!

Towcester doubles for Hutton and Tuffin

There was another decent Sunday afternoon for Kevin Hutton at Towcester with Jazzy Duke getting the better of a dual with Alright Arthur to pick up his first win since July. He had been runner-up in four of his last five starts, so he wasn't winning out of turn, with all three of his open wins coming at this track.

Jazzy Dancer was the first winner on the card for Hutton, picking up her third straight success. She had nailed Alright Tallent right on the line last week to get up by a short head, picking up the same rival once more, though this time with half a length to spare. She had to check up at the opening bend or she would have won more comfortably after a better exit from the traps. 

Although David Lewis was out of luck with a pair of second-place finishes behind a pair of Hutton runners, he did get a winner on the card himself from Alright Precious. This was another result the same as a week prior, getting the better of Hutton's Dreamin Francis in a 460m contest. 

Laurence Tuffin was also on target with a double, led by the 712m success of Fabulous Ellen. At 1/5, she did what she was supposed to do, scoring by five and a half lengths despite not taking up the running until the final turn. She had been given a nice pace to chase from kenenlmate Fabulous Islay before leaving that one trailing in her wake late on. 

The final race of the afternoon went to Fabulous Regard who showed off her gears to the opening bend to see off Seamus Gaughan's Unlikely Nando. A half-sister to Oaks finalist Fabulous Aria, she kept pulling out more and more in front, showing an excellent attitude on the bunny.

Another to make all of the running was Richard Baker's Romantic Bingo. She was very slick away from the traps over 460m and with the shorter run to the corner in her favour, she slipped away from her field before they had a chance to respond. She was another bringing up a third straight win, hers coming after a pair of graded successes.

Hackney Toast was the other open race winner on the afternoon, scoring for Afzal Ali. He is not a regular scorer but he has produced solid form for the kennel in his career, winning his fourth open overall, one of which was a Category One semi-final. He was also away and gone from his field from an early stage.  

All sprint opens at Valley 

Four opens at Valley were all over two bends with Seeking Times the quickest of the winners for Donna Davy. The veteran had returned to winning ways with a D3 victory on his most recent start, seeing off three rivals here from the front for open race win number six. 

Hawkfield Jackie was a wide margin winner for Tony Morgan, quickly into stride from the innermost draw, she scampered away by more than four lengths come the line. She has worked her way up from D5 through to this first open race win on her 50th start.

The shortest price of the winners was Craig Marston's Sadele. She has taken a real liking to this place, winning for the fourth time in her last five starts at Valley. She was another who showed solid pace to the bend, driving the opening corner strongly to take full control of the contest. 

Paul Maynard picked up the other sprint winner with My Little Farmer. He was not quite so quick into stride as his winning counterparts but he paced up well to the turn to poke his nose in front at the bend before clearing away from them.