Paul Young with a spectacular five timer at Romford
Friday night saw 10 opens at Romford, five of which went to the Paul Young kennel. There was also open race action at Sunderland where Tom Heilbron got a double.
Underground fizzes to stunning six-bend debut
The Paul Young team ran riot at Romford on Friday night, winning five of the 10 opens. Pick of the bunch was the six-bend debut from Underground Fizz. The Coral Romford Puppy Cup finalist had been shaping as if she might improve for a longer trip, and with a perfect draw for her, she took full advantage in a slick 35.00.
Fastest over 400m on the night was Young's Yahoo Mareike, another to make every yard of the running, stopping the clock in 23.85. Young picked up one of the two races over 750m, with Innfield Fifi causing a minor surprise, picking up her kennelmate Bacardi Bullet on the run for home.
Crossfield Roger won the other heat of the maiden stayers to take his place in the final next week alongside Underground Fizz. His 35.22 was a solid effort and he should keep his kennelmate honest. Young's other winner was Itsur Hero who took full advantage of a quick exit from the innermost draw to land a 400m contest. The one trip that Young didn't manage to pick up a winner over was the sprint one. The 225m race on the card was won by Jane Craske's Isthatmyfella, adding to a win from the previous week.
Other six-bend contests went to Fabulous Sonique (35.13) and Droopys Rosie (35.23) for Mark Wallis and Maxine Locke. Both of them got to the front early and with them being regular winners at the track, it helps to add context around the 35-dead run from Underground Fizz.
Guys and Dolls finalist Zenith Impact dipped under the 24-second barrier when winning for David Mullins while Matt Dartnall got on the scoresheet courtesy of Betweenthesticks who won on her eight-bend debut, still a month shy of her second birthday.
Sunderland double for Tom Heilbron
There were four open races at Sunderland on Friday night, all over 450m. A pair of those went to Tom Heilbron, Toddys Panther and Bowers Sheeran getting the job done for the Trimdon handler. The former was getting off the mark for the first time since arriving from Ireland on his final official day as a puppy. The latter was also on his final day as a pup, scoring at the third time of asking.
The quickest of the four winners was Bouncing Monarch for David Fradgely. An Arena Racing Company Puppy Classic finalist back in August and then a Steel City Cup finalist in October, he is only a January '24 whelp, retaining plenty of potential for better to come in 2026.
Ballymac Deboss was the other open race winner on the card for the Carl Jackson kennel. It was open winner 25 for the kennel in 2025 after 32 in total from 2019-2024, it has been a career-best year for a kennel having a superb time of things.
Upcoming Opens
Saturday: Central Park ♦ Doncaster ♦ Monmore ♦ Star Pelaw ♦ Yarmouth
Monday: Nottingham
Tuesday: Swindon
Friday: Romford
