Ladbrokes Winter Derby rerun becomes a Brucey bonus for Wallis

Winter Derby glory for Bruce Bay and Mark Wallis

The delay of a week worked in the favour of Bruce Bay and Mark Wallis who stayed on best to land the re-run of the Ladbrokes Winter Derby final. He had missed the break a week ago, and although he was led up on the inside by Droopys Aladdin once again, he was always close enough to the speed to pick up Mike Burton's railer on the run-in. 

Toddys Wolf had led the race up overall in the early stages on for Tom Heilbron but he was never able to slip far enough clear, though he held on for third by a short head from David Fradgley's Bouncing Monarch who rounded out the field.  

It was the Maxine Locke show on the undercard with a trio of winners. Barnfield Titan was the quickest of the three, quickly in control of a puppy contest to add to his win at Central Park last week. It was a solid effort ahead of the Premier Greyhound Racing Puppy Derby.

Another puppy contest went to Newinn Aero, though he is a little trickier to weigh up. He was a semi-finalist in the Arena Racing Company Northern Puppy Derby, sporting stripes last week at Monmore when beaten. It was the red jacket on his back last night and he looked anything but a railer. He is still finding his feet and learning on the job but a middle slot would look to suit him best.

Ballymac Blanco has now picked up four of his 11 open race wins at Monmore, adding a sixth win from his last 12 starts with a fluent 28.50 success. A striking looker, he has produced solid form for connections on his travels around the country.

A leading contender for the upcoming Puppy Derby is Underground Gold who added a third win in four starts for Paul Young. He quickly got himself to the front courtesy of a 4.37 split and that saw him avoiding the trouble behind him on his way to a time two spots quicker than the Winter Derby was won in. 

Nathan Hunt got on the scoresheet from Kilara Berb who got the better of a battle with Armagh Daithi. The pair set a flying pace to the opening bend with 4.25 and 4.23 sectionals respectively to really set about a speed dual. 

A sole six-bend race on the card was won by Seamus Cahill's Droopys Invent. It was a deep-looking contest but he showed the best trapping to get himself quickly to the front and there was never a moment where connections will have felt that he was ever going to come back to them. 

Two clocks fall at Central Park as Janssens gets four winners

The Arena Racing Company Kent Plate team for Patrick Janssens is a strong one, with a number of trial stakes going their way. All four winners that Janssens had were odds-on, combining for a four-fold that paid a hair over 11/4. Janssens open race runners this year are 22/43, a strike rate of 51.16% with an average SP of 5/4.

It was a sprint contest that contained the run of the night as Romeo Steel added the Central Park two-bend track record to his Nottingham one and his Yarmouth four-bend clock. He took 10 spots off the clock despite not having run at the track since October 2024 nor even had a look since September of last year.

There was also a new track record over the 664m distance as Princess Matilda for Gemma Evans got the job done in fine style. She had to see off a strong field which contained Deadly Disco, getting herself to the front at the third bend. 

Droopys Graph produced the quickest 491m time for Janssens, though it was not all plain sailing in the early strides. Once he hit the front, there was only ever going to be one result but credit to Zenith Kindy who kept him honest throughout. 

There was a sub 29-second display from Droopys Buck to add to his sprinting win on his Central Park debut. A 3.10 sectional saw him quickly in control, and he looks another nice recruit to the squad.

The final winner for Janssens was Slick Sentinel who was also following up his win at the track a week prior. He was another who held off a late-charging David Mullins runner, this time Zenith Legend. 

Mullins did pick up a winner of his own with Zenith Jimbombom who just got the verdict in a three-way run to the line. Paul Burr added to the Romford winners on the night as Don Rocco landed a sprint contest, equalling the track record 80 minutes before Romeo Steel broke it.

Julie Luckhurst picked up a treble on the evening, Earls Joker winning a sprint contest before Millbank Rocco and Bullseye Bill added six-bend victories to the mix. 

The opening contest saw Upper Horgan win for Tony Dean. It was a debut UK win for the triple Tralee scorer. Good Rainbow picked up a success for Barry O'Sullivan and Maxine Locke had a winner with Abigails Cian to round out the card. 

George and Daisy joint quickest in Sandy Lane Sprint

The Category Two Sandy Lane Sprint got underway with four heats. Sponsored by The Ultimate Tipster, the last two heats were the quickest as Jazzy George for Kevin Hutton and Dash away Daisy for Maxine Locke both clocked 14.96. The former turned over Broadway Murty for the second straight week while the latter pinned the first career loss on Avarua Lake.

Luckily for Rachel Hill, Fluffthestart didn't live up to his name, making all the running in the opening heat, six spots behind the above pair. The other heat went to Nightingale Crew for Craig Morris to make it five wins in nine starts. 

Hutton had a pair of winners on the undercard as well with Droopys Doris ending the winning streak of Alright Twinkle and then Resonate turning over his shorter-priced kennelmate Venetian Mick. 

Oxford has been a happy hunting ground for Ballymac Madgie who added to her track wins in another staying contest for Shaun Gresham. Some Cashout completed the open race winners on the card, picking up a 450m contest for Laura Pruhs. 

Acclaim back on the winning trail

There were some smart types in action at Dunstall Park with Good Acclaim quickly putting the first defeat of his career last week firmly in the rearview mirror. Stuart Tighe's sprinter has electric early gears, showing the best pace to the bend once more, 

There was another win at the track for Butlers Lane for Barry Denby. She has only suffered a single loss at this venue in 12 visits, brave to split a pair of rivals going into the opening bend before powering clear.  

Kim Billingham-Hine grabbed a double on the card courtesy of Beatties Shine over 480m and Champys Girl over 660m. They had very different styles to get their heads in front, the former making all the running with the latter getting on top in the final strides.

A pair of odds-on failures came over 480m with the wins going to Ruth Lambe's Ceejay Sparkle and Sean Parker's Charming Delight. The latter was the longest priced winner on the card at 11/1.

Leon on top at Star Pelaw 

Unanimous Leon was the quickest over 435m at Star Pelaw in 2025 and set an early marker at the top of the clock for Tom Heilbron this year. He was two lengths quicker than Popper Joe for Henry Young who was quickly into stride to take a win of his own.

Three of the four 435m opens went to the red-jacketed runner with Porthole Bob and Fagans Peggy taking the other pair for Colin Watson and Jake Devitt respectively. 

A pair of sprint opens went to Nah Then Keefill for Daniel Bell and Blackstone Dani for Colin Dibb. The former has hit a purple patch of late with both of them making all of the running on a night where making ground from the back was difficult.  

Overton double at Doncaster 

There was a pair of winners at Doncaster for Ricky Overton with Foxwood Carter the quicker of the pair. It was a race that changed complexion massively late on with the winner able to miss the trouble. Azeman had got the double started a race earlier, justifying his position at the head of the market. 

Jimmy Gaskin opened up the card with Clonoon Ansar. He has been in excellent heart of late, winning for the fourth time in a six-race spell. A second sprint on the card saw Susan Watson's Flashing Style home in front to nail the long time leader on the line. A stayers race went to Rapido Ana for Martin Haythorne, running riot by more than eight lengths.