Four for Rees lights up Thursday night at Hove

Rees takes four winners on the Hove card

It was an excellent night for the Richard Rees kennel at Hove with four winners. Zenith Rocket started the night in perfect fashion in the opener, a 3.53 split sending him into an unassailable lead into the opening bend. He boasts an impressive strike rate of 8/14 in his young career, with this run as good as any so far. 

29.28 was the top time over 500m on the card which was produced by Scooby The Lady. She took a little while to add to her debut success for the team but has now gone back-to-back, and looks a bitch to follow as the year unwinds. 

A perfect 3/3 now in his career is Avarua Lake who took the sprint contest on the card. He made a winning debut at Shelbourne back in August, scored for Rees in mid December, continuing the unbeaten streak in a decent sprint field last night. Hopefully we will get to see him on track more regularly in the upcoming months as he is clearly a nice prospect. 

Zenith Eze was the other winner for Rees on the card. He had to do things the harder way, finding trouble early on but staying on best to pick up the lead on the run-in. It was his first win for the kennel, adding to his sole UK win which came in the opening round of the Derby when in training with Liam Dowling.

It was good to see a veterans race on the card, with Bluejig Baron finding things much easier from the front than when having to come from a mile behind at Central Park on Saturday night. He has been an exceptional performer for Dave Lee and continues to show a seriously smart level of form, scoring in 29.34.

Maxine Locke closed out the card with a winner courtesy of Ballymac Axel. He was another to find a serious amount of trouble in the race that Bluejig Baron won at the weekend, finding a clear path on this occasion, landing a 515m race in 30.10.

The other bitches contest went to David Dark's Ballydoyle Eile. She has been in sparkling form of late for the kennel, now the winner of four of her last six runs. Her 29.64 was one of the top efforts that she has produced, although on the clock she will need a little more if she is to beat Scooby The Lady in the final next week but a draw inside. that rival will be a help.

There was a decent winner for Seamus Cahill in the form of Blackstone Opera. She had looked a very unlucky loser the week before and was deservedly getting off the mark for the first time for the kennel. She was a Clonmel winner back in September before coming over to this country and can kick on from here.

Sussex Cyclone was a winner for Jamie Kingsley, overcoming a wider than ideal draw in four. She headed straight to the rails from the middle slot, only turning fourth as a result. Double in front of her allowed her to slip around the inside and she didn't need a second invitation to take advantage.

One last 500m contest on the evening was won by Carl Gardiner's Clairkeith Lainy. It was her first success at this level since scoring at Crayford in December 2024, holding off the strong finish of Waitininthewings by a short head.

Another sprint race on the card saw Mob Momentum for Belinda Green home in front. He got the better of the early-paced battle with the runner-up Move Over Harry who was closing all the way to the line.

There was also a six-bend race on the card which went to Paul Young and Full Monty. He has won a couple of times over 575m at Romford and had no issue stepping up in trip to 695m. 

Impressive Northern Puppy Derby trial stakes 

A week to go until the start of the Arena Racing Company Northern Puppy Derby, there were two trials stakes on the card at Newcastle last night with both of them resulting in smart performances. 

Ballymac Buddy took the first of them for Ted Soppitt in a tidy 28.39. He had finished behind Ballymac Service last week but he turned that around with a clear run and a sharper break. It was his third win in just the fourth start of his career, looking a big player for outright glory when the competition starts in a week.

Maxine Locke guided three to the final last year in Ballymacs Lucia and Axel along with Yahoo Maizy. Headford Lily picked up the win in the second of the trial stakes, clocking 28.50 in the process. She was beaten two short heads in the final of the bet365 Puppy Oaks at Oxford in December, so she already boasts a Cat One pedigree.

The other open on the card went the way of Slingshot Gazza for Brian Fairbairn. It looked a decent sprint contest on paper, ending up a horribly messy race behind the winner who had shown by far the best gears to the bend to avoid all of the trouble behind him. His 16.74 was only 10 spots shy of the 2025 fastest of the year which he had also set.