Mongys Wild wins at Towcester ahead of his TV Trophy bid

Mongys wins final prep before the TV Trophy

The highs of the first round of the Star Sports & Orchestrate Ltd English Greyhound Derby on Friday and Saturday were always going to be hard to live up to on Sunday, but the winning appearance of Mongys Wild in a 712m contest meant that those in attendance had the chance to see the staying star in action.

Entries close on Wednesday for the TV Trophy, newly sponsored by Barking Mad Betting, and it will be very short odds that Mongys Wild will go back-to-back in the competition. His 42.65 winning time is the quickest time of the year to this point, looking like a perfect final piece of action before heading back over eight bends.

Pavilion Team provided Mark Wallis with a double on the afternoon. Drawn out wider than ideal in six, he was quick to stride and that was enough to see him get around the opening bend in front of his main rival Born Racer which proved to be more than enough to see him home in front again.

The 460m distance got plenty of use and saw the record lowered twice on the afternoon. Pat Doocey's Longacres King was the first to get his short time in the sun as he was flew from the lids to show off his talents. He started his career in the English Puppy Derby over 500m when with Liz McNair and clearly enjoyed his return.

That record didn't last long, however, as Frank Gray's Doyle quickly lowered the mark. He is a July 24 pup on just his second start, so it was an impressive run from him. 26.36 probably won't remain the track record for long, but he could well be the type to keep on beating his own mark.

Gray had a double on the card as Makeit Lottie obliged in another 460m contest late on in the afternoon. She has won four of her eight starts around the track, taking well to the shorter four-bend distance.

Alright Bullet lived up to his name in a 500m contest for David Lewis, producing a very smart 3.83 split on his way to a super 28.76. It was just his fourth start for Lewis, successful in two of three at Shelbourne prior to that. Just an August puppy, he will have gone in plenty of notebooks for July's Juvenile Classic off the back of this display.

The step up to the longest trip that she has tried for Kevin Hutton was the big plus that it was expected to be for Tooreen Rose. She showed the pick of her Irish form when given a proper test of stamina and looks a player in the stayers competition which concludes on Derby final night. 

Sean White took a 460m win with Broadway Lord. He needed all of the trip to get his nose in front, stopped in his run at the third bend when coming to challenge. Four different dogs held the lead at one point in the contest.

That is more than could be said for the 460m race won by Carol Weatherall with another winner who lived up to her name. Shes Gone was exactly that from the lids, in front at the opening bend and pulling more than three lengths clear of her nearest rival come the line. 

The other open on the card went to Laurence Tuffin's Romeo Tomatin. The youngster was quickly into stride to make it six wins in his 10 starts, with this his first since he lost his puppy status. 

Hodson hot form continues

There were only two invitational contests at Sheffield with Kelly Hodson taking the forecast in the first of those. Romeo Force beat Romeo Cobra which was not the way the market expected with the runner-up seeing a five-race winning streak come to an end. The winner was picking up a third win in his last four starts himself, the pair contributing plenty to the good form of their kennel around here. 

The other was a sprint contest which went to Chart Topper for Colin Handford. It was a contest with three different dogs in the lead at one point or another, the winner getting on top late on to grab the money by a neck. He won an A2 on his most recent start so is clearly adaptable enough. 

Danahar double at Valley

Four opens on the early card from the Valley saw a double for James Danahar. Quivers Rafa took the only four-bend open on the card, putting an end to the win streak of Droopys Nijinsky. The winner was scoring for the 16th time himself, with six of those coming in open company.

Dark Trooper completed the double, beating his shorter-priced kennelmate Walking Nunez in the process. The winner was making his first race start for 200 days, last seen taking a D3 contest in October, returning in decent form with himself. 

The quickest of the three sprint winners was Rapido Firmino. Tony Morgan's veteran has just five races to go until he reaches the century mark, scoring win number 18 in a decent 16.02. He has only ever won in a quicker time once.

It wouldn't be a Valley card with opens on it without a winner for Donna Davy. Seeking Times got the job done for her in 16.16, winning for the fourth time in his last five starts. The only blip was when he was very badly bumped last week.