Good Acclaim returns with a bang at Nottingham
There were just three opens at Nottingham on Monday night but there were some smart types on show, primarily Good Acclaim who made a winning return to race action.
Good Acclaim puts fourth Nottingham sprint time into 2026 top 10
It's almost three months since Good Acclaim was last seen in race action, but he did not miss a beat on Monday evening at Nottingham. Quick from the traps, he had things under control within a few strides, eventually crossing the line in 17.55 to add to his 17.47, 17.54 and another 17.55 from earlier on in the year.
The Dunstall Dash winner is now 13/16 in his career, with a couple more sprint competitions to round out the year. The Scurry is next month back at Dunstall before the traditional sprinting end to the campaign with the National Sprint at Nottingham. He will be a leading contender wherever Stuart Tighe decides to send him.
Another sprint on the card went to Martyn Wiley's Blackburnmybullet. When the only rival to his left hand side missed the kick badly, he was left with plenty of room in which to operate, and although the two box is probably a touch further left than he wants to be, he was able to pick the line that he wanted into the opening turn.
He had landed a sprint win at Central Park last month, beating a pair of smart yardsticks in Martindale Lad and Jacktavern Don. A refresher around this venue was required last week to get his timing right having not seen Nottingham since last December, and that paid off, timing his break much better.
There was a single four-bend open event on the card with Newinn Jolly taking a standard final for Kim Billingham-Hine. He didn't pace up as well as a couple of his rivals which saw him have to check off the back of Tetra Eco going into the opening bend but he was soon back on an even keel heading into the back.
Swift Kipper gave her usual bold sight on the front end but the writing was on the wall when the winner loomed up on her inside at the third bend. A Ladbrokes Puppy Derby finalist back in March, Newinn Jolly has shown flashes of excellent form so far in his career, and has only had 16 starts in total.
