Four spots cover the three Belle winners as Bouncing Monarch rules the Kirby

Four spots cover the three Brighton Belle semis

There was very little to cover the three semi-final winners of the Coral Brighton Belle at Hove, with just four spots covering the three who crossed the line in front. 

It was John Mullins's Aayamza Shazza who produced the run of the night, stopping the clock in 30.06 for the 515m. She was electric to the turn and once her main danger in Raebella Bulet failed to ping and found just the tiniest rub in the early stages, it was over, with Belinda Green's runner never quite able to get to the winner. 

There was nothing splitting the other two winners, both clocking the same 30.10. Strike It Skye was the quickest in the opening round but she was made to dig deep by Seamus Cahill's Blackstone Opera who made it a pair of puppies into the decider to accompany Aayamza Shazaa.

It was good to see Teddie back to winning ways last week and she was the widest-margin scorer in the semis, running away from David Lewis's Alright Twinkle by four lengths. She stays further than this and gives Green a second finalist. The draw is below, looking set for a fascinating conclusion to the competition next week.

There were a pair of further winners for Green on the undercard as she topped and tailed the night. Fantasy Alex took the opener, a race that changed completion plenty on the run to the line. 

Behemoth is starting to string together some strong winning form, scoring for the fourth time in his last six starts. In that time he has won from three different traps, twice form the striped jacket which he sported last night. 

Paul Young pulled out a treble on the card to follow on from his excellent night at Romford. Jimmyjimmyjimmy was the pick of the three in a Puppy Cup heat, a 3.49 split quickly sending him on his way to victory. He has had no luck in a pair of Cat One competitions for pups but strikes as the type who can set that right in time. 

Young took the another heat of the Puppy Cup with Droopys Sometime. All three of his career wins have come at this track now, showing decent early gears to get himself to the front at the opening bend.

Vahbelle landed the treble, brave to force her way up the inside at the opening turn, making room for herself and sending her rivals out to the right. She had shown plenty of promise in four starts at Romford prior to this, getting off the mark on this more galloping circuit.

It was Ricky Holloway who had the quickest of the three heat winners of the Puppy Cup, Rapido Benny going a single spot faster than Jimmyjimmyjimmy. He was 0/11 in his career coming into the contest, picking a fine moment to get himself off the mark in style, winning by four lengths. 

There was a second winner for Mark Wallis as Pivilion Team took the quicker of the pair of sprint races on the card.  It was win number 17 for him since joining Wallis, scoring for the first time at this track. 

Avarua Zlatan took the other for Richard Rees, getting up late on in the day to grab Newinn Souly who had led up. The winner is not a regular scorer but he showed that he is more than capable on his day.

The surprise winner on the card for punters was June Harvey's Blueisthecolor who was a 16/1 scorer. He has enjoyed an excellent 2026 to this point, winning an A4, A3, A2 and a pair of A1 contests, with this open notching up a hat-trick for him.

Monarch rules the Kirby final

The big race in Ireland last night saw Bouncing Monarch produce a stunning front-running display to land the Con & Annie Kirby Memorial, breaking the track record of 27.77 in the process. 

David Fradgely's dog has been in the care of Michael O'Donovan for the duration of the Kirby, and he has improved on the already smart form that he showed in England. Most recently, that came when very unlucky not to win the Ladbrokes Winter Derby with the race being halted in the interest of safety before missing the break in the re-run.

Limerick has suited him well, producing a flying sectional last night to get himself away and clear. There was a dead-heat for second between O'Donovan's Ballycowen Frank and Liam Dowling's Ballymac Setanta. The winner is now a 20/1 chance for Derby glory with sponsors Star Sports, with Ballymac Setanta one of four 14/1 co-favourites.

Five for Locke at Central Park

The battle between Maxine Locke and Paul Young for the highest volume of open race winners is going to be a fascinating one through the year. The pair are tied at 65 each after Saturday night, with Mark Wallis next in on 54. 

There were five scorers for Locke at Central Park, led by Bluejig Outlaw who got the better of Fabulous Heka in a staying contest. Heka got to the front early but she had no answers once the winner swooped by on his way to a three and a half length success.

Headford Cian landed a sprint contest on just his second start for the kennel. From a damline that has produced strong performers for them in the past, he looks a nice type for the future, especially once he gets a chance to stretch his legs over a little further. 

Locke's other two winners came over 491m, with Droopys Dettori a powerful runner over this trip, picking things up at the halfway mark and always doing enough to keep his rivals at bay. 

There was a little more in hand for Abigails Cian this week. A winner seven days prior by a short head and a short head, he was a length in front of his nearest rival this time around.

The winning streak of Princess Matilda continued for Gemma Evans. She has got seven on the bounce now, including three over this track and trip. She was prohibitive odds of 1/9 to score but in the end only had a length to spare over the local runner One More Tune who kept her honest.

Another who has been showing some consistent winning form at the track is Dave Lee's Brunch Pal. He dipped under 29 seconds for his win to notch up a hat-trick over the 491m. He has now won 10 of 15 since joining Lee.

On a night with plenty of short-priced winners, Thurlesbeg Pluto landed a sprint for Paul Donovan to continue his unbeaten start for the kennel. There are going to be much harder tasks ahead but he is clearly a smart type.

Another nice young sprinter is Tracton Starbar. Mick Mavrias's bitch has won four of her first six starts at the track, including beating Headford Cian a week back. It brought up a hat-trick of wins. She has the bit firmly between her teeth at present.

Patrick Janssens got on the scoresheet courtesy of Slick Skylark. She was no better than moderately away which meant that she had to dig deep to pick up the leader at the fourth bend. Once she had hit the front, however, she powered away up the run-in.

The other winners on the card were Distant Debbie for Dean Childs, Brideside Belle for Patrick Browne and Coppice Dakota for Luke Morrison.

Four doubles at Doncaster

Another bumper 16-race open bonanza at Doncaster saw Rose Draper, Phil Milner, Susan Watson and Samantha Lapidge all pick up a pair of winners on the evening. 

Even a drop to four bends couldn't stop Rockmount Lucy from picking up another win at the track in a dual distance competiton. She will be far happier next week in the final back over 661m where she will be going for her seventh straight win at the track for Draper. 

Audience has really come alive at the track in recent weeks, grabbing the second half of Draper's double over 450m. He had to dig deep to grab a hat-trick of wins at the track but is a progressive sort who is in sparkling form at present. 

Two puppy maiden races went to Milner littermates, from a Droopys Addition X Nah Then Bella mating. Keefill Sequoia was the quicker of the pair, a sharp 2.11 sectional getting him to the opening bend with plenty already in hand on his rivals. 

Monty Burns was the second half of Milner's excellent (I will make no apologies for overusing that for the duration of his career) double. He was able to move to the right on the run to the bend after a decent getaway, and simply ran away from his field.

Sandwood Gabby opened up Watson's double with an impressive performance over 483m, briefly setting a quickest of the year over the distance. She produced an electric split and never looked in any danger of being caught.

The double came up courtesy of Reenaderry Road who took a similar route to success via a slick exit, although this time over 450m. That meant that he missed all the trouble behind him to run out an easy winner.

It was also an all-the-way win over 450m for Ballarue Rolo who was taking the final of a dual distance competition. He was comfortably the quickest in the sprint heats last week and he had no trouble lasting home over the longer trip for Lapidge.

Ballymac Ivanna brought up the double with an all-the-way success over 483m. She needed to dig deep late on in the day as Rapido Ana produced a solid run in second but despite a game effort, she never looked like she was going to get past.

Only an hour and a half after Sandwood Gabby produced the quickest 483m run of the year, it was usurped by Romeo Tallisker who went a single spot quicker for Sean Parker. He had taken a decent scalp last week in Sole Focus and ran on late in the day to get the better of the front-running Born Scooby.

Darren Fretwell's Carakeel Express only had two rivals to beat but he did so nicely enough, getting out in front and always looking to be holding on. Beverly Heaton picked up the first winner on the card with Grosvenor Mona who clocked a decent 16.83 in a sprint. 

Barry O'Sullivan made the long journey up from his Kent base, grabbing a sprint winner with Frankie Fourpaws. Joy Andrews landed a success with Drumdoit Sheeba, Ian Reynolds scored with Mind Your Mind, Ivy Hill Stella ended a run of seconds for Debbie Calvert, with Hello Young Girl rounding out the winners on the night with a win for Craig Marston.  

Yarmouth double for Samuels

Just four opens on the Yarmouth card yesterday with Erica Samuels taking a pair of them. Outdoor Cracker was successful over six bends, somehow getting to the front at the opening turn despite being the slowest away. That was the key to the contest with runner-up New Ground sticking to his task well in second.

Backing It Up was closer to last than first crossing the line the first time around in his four bend win but he battled his way to the front at the third bend to pick up his first win at this level. 

There was a winner for Craig Morris as Gundy showed off his smart early pace once more. He has done well since joining the kennel, winning five times in his last eight starts, backing up a win in a sprint open last week with a 462m triumph this time around. 

Sharon Knights had the other open race winner on the card with Crypto Only Mate. It was her third win on the bounce after an S2 and an intertrack win.