Four Hove doubles on Thursday night
There was open race action at both Hove and Monmore on Thursday night with the eight opens at the former split between four trainers who each picked up a double.
Doubles galore at Hove
Eight open races at Hove last night saw four trainers pick up a brace of winners. Picking a performance of the night is a tricky one with three different trips in play, and solid runs across the board.
Bubbly Amber ducked under 42 seconds to pick up a 695m contest for Paul Young. She was stepping up to the longest trip that she has been tried over in her career to this point and extended her winning run to four. With three sub 24.10 graded wins at Romford over 400m, her early pace got her to the front at the opening bend and she maintained the gallop to open up more opportunities down the line.
She was completing a quick double for Young after Bluey Bullet in the prior contest. He had also shown the best gears to get to the opening bend with his head in front but he was being run down late on, holding off Burrows Charm by the minimum distance in 30.17.
That same time was also clocked over 515m by Seamus Cahill's Moving Force. He turned handier to the speed than can sometimes be the case which gave him a golden opportunity to put his stamina to good use. Runner-up in the Coral Olympic to Proper Heiress and a Premier Greyhound Racing Champion Stakes finalist in 2025, he got off the mark for the year.
Blackstone Harry had kicked off the Cahill double as the most fortunate winner of the night after Bubbly Sheeran took out longtime leader Zenith Duke at the fourth bend. Credit to the runner-up who rode the interference well but the loss of momentum saw him go under by a head.
The quickest of the winners over 500m on the night was Carl Gardiner's Easy Tizzy. She has found the winning thread this spring, successful for the fourth time in her last eight starts, banging out in front to produce her best run over the trip.
Gardiner landed his double in the final race of the night courtesy of Jackpot Blue. A messy contest left him with only one rival to beat from the quarter mark, but it was good to see him back on the winning trail after ending up on the sand himself on his most recent start.
Jason Heath was the fourth trainer to pick up a pair of winners on the night, kicking off with Burrows Fizz in the first open on the card. She was another to make all the running on a quick track, showing off her consistency from the lids with her last four races producing sectionals of 3.53, 3.53, 3.53 and a 3.52 last night.
Feora Cara rounded out an excellent night for those who backed the black jacket blind, a sixth winner to start from the four slot. She made it as high as A3 over four bends, making her 695m debut last night and making almost all of the running.
Tournament impresses again for Page
David Page looks to have a nice one on his hands with Wise Tournament who eventually saw off the attentions of Sams Magic in a 480m contest at Monmore. The pair produced a hugely entertaining buckle with the stamina of the victor getting her home in front. The runner-up had missed out on a spot in the Laurels final by a short head so the win reads well for a bitch who should do better over six bends later on in the year.
There was a career-best performance from Tullymurry India at a perfect moment, taking out the sprint final for Brian Thompson. Electric from the lids, she was a couple of lengths clear after just a few strides and was never in any danger of coming back to her field.
Kim Billingham-Hine took the six-bend final with Beatties Casino. He got a nice tow into the race from his Oaks finalist kennelmate Kilwest Diva on the inside early, getting to the front late on to hold off the final thrust from Aero Leg It in a contest where the first four home were covered by a length.
