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Kathleen goes out in Oaks shock

Irish superstar Droopys Kathleen suffered her first defeat as she crashed out of the PGR Oaks at Dunstall Park, with Kelvins Hat setting the standard.

Chris Oliver

11 Oct 2025

Droopys Kathleen

Shock Oaks exit for Droopys Kathleen

The big news in the second round of the Premier Greyhound Racing Oaks at Dunstall Park on Friday night was the shock elimination of Droopys Kathleen.

The Irish superstar was six from six in her career after setting the standard in the first round and was sent off a 1/4 favourite to maintain her unbeaten record.

However, after a slow start, Robert Gleeson’s bitch couldn’t get across from trap four and met traffic problems, as Ballymac Kinga cut loose out wide.

Droopys Kathleen never got a clear run and could only manage fourth place, with Fabulous Aria pushing Ballymac Kinga close but she couldn’t prevent Belinda Green’s charge from scoring at 20/1 in 28.30 (-10).

That completed an Oaks double for the in-form Green, who landed the opening heat with Raebella Bullet (2/1), who stayed on well to narrowly touch off Meenagh Minsk in 28.72 (-10).

Fastest of the night was Kelvins Hat, who sprang a 7/1 surprise when narrowly holding the well-fancied Strike It Skye in the concluding heat.

Seamus Cahill’s winner raced into an early lead and despite a big late surge from Strike It Skye, the latter couldn’t find a way past and the winner held on to score in 28.28 (-10).

Aero Becks was another costly loser as the 8/13 chance had to play second fiddle to Barry Denby’s Butlers Lane, a dominant victor at 7/1 in 28.43 (-10).

The Brian Thompson-trained Paradise Sky came from off the pace to collar Annadown Zara in the dying strides and justify 4/9 favouritism in 28.51 (-10), while Kilwest Diva (6/1) made first run count as Kim Billingham-Hine’s runner won well from Droopys Eunice in 28.53 (-10).

There were also six heats of the Arena Racing Company Scurry Gold Cup at the Wolverhampton circuit and the returning Shadow Storm (1/2fav) set the standard in the sprint competition with an impressive 15.49 (-5) success.

The Richard Rees-trained speedster defied a two-month layoff with a scintillating trap-to-line success and set a new track record in beating Ballinakill Liam by two lengths.

Defending champion Rioja Oisin (8/11fav) had set new figures for the 270m trip when making all in 15.54 (-5) just over an hour earlier and the prospect of Kevin Hutton’s dog clashing with Shadow Storm at this venue is a mouth-watering one.

Hutton initiated a double when his Jazzy George (7/4fav) stormed into a first-bend lead and kicked on to win in style from Born Racer in 15.81 (-5).

The aforementioned Green also landed a Scurry Gold Cup heat courtesy of 9/1 outsider Gur Gur Granvile, a trap-to-line winner in 15.84 (-5), while Mark Wallis hit the target with Kilmore Mohican (2/1fav) in a 15.79 (-5) run.

Bockos Buster (3/1) did the business for Kevin Boon when upsetting 8/11 favourite Salacres Senan by a length in 15.61 (-5).