"My dad trained the dam and sire which makes it extra special"

British bred winner for Draper's maiden Cat One

Harton Whirlwind bagged Rose Draper a first Category One success of her career in the £10,000 BGBF British Bred Puppy Cup final at Dunstall Park in Wolverhampton on Saturday.

The Yorkshire handler – who took over her father Barrie’s training license only last year – roared her kennel star home to what was only his third victory from 16 runs.

He did it in dramatic style by beating long-time race leader and favourite Romeo Astron by a head after he passed Tom Heilbron’s puppy in the final strides.

It came only five months after Harton Whirlwind made his debut for owners the Harton Hopefuls, where he started in A4 company at Sheffield.

Now a Category One champion, trainer Rose said the win will take a long time to sink in. “This means so much, it’ll take a while to sink in,” she said.

“My dad trained the dam and sire which makes it extra special, but the atmosphere trackside was great and for him to get up on the line is brilliant – he really deserved it. 

“This competition was always our plan. He hadn’t ran for two weeks before the start, so he didn’t have the best preparation but he’s progressed nicely and he was brave when it mattered most. 

“He’s a bang railer so we wanted to avoid Romeo Astron (trap one) where possible. He has a tendency to wait for greyhounds to move out of his way before passing them but he definitely didn’t do that tonight. 

“We’re over the moon!”

Racing continues at Dunstall Park on Saturday nights through the summer holidays, with racing starting at 6.20pm. U18s go free to all fixtures.

The track’s next major race night is on Saturday, September 19, when it hosts the £20,000 Premier Greyhound Racing St Leger.

All tickets can be purchased online via www.dunstallpark-greyhounds.co.uk