Rapido Spy lands the bet365 Puppy Oaks for Shaun Gresham

Gresham lands the final Cat One of the year

While a 33/1 winner the final Category One final of 2025 might not have been the way that punters will have wanted the year to end, it was a sensational viewing spectacle with two short heads covering the first three across the line.

Rapido Spy was one of the two outsiders in the field but she showed smart pace up to the bend to put herself into a challenging position. Once more it was Nathan Hunt's Scooby Diamond who led the way in her third Cat One final. She just managed to hold off Headford Lily for second but the winner ran a sensational final bend, chose the right option to challenge on the far side of the other pair and got her head down on the line.

She is part of a very promising April '24 Grangeview Ten litter and is going to do much better herself in 2026 on a stiffer track. Droopys Tiffany, Soapy Suds and Beaming Carly were the other runners to make it into the decider. 

Gresham won an earlier staying contest on the card with Ballymac Madgie. A Challenge Cup finalist recently, she has been performing at the top of her game for a while and got the better of an odds on shot for Kevin Hutton in the form of Venetian Mick, who has been flying himself of late. 

There was still a treble on the card for the Hutton kennel despite that reverse, with Coppice Ferry the pick of them. He is unbeaten in his three career races and is another who looks like he will have plenty more to offer next year. 

Jazzy Soul is a May '24 pup for Hutton, winning for the second time in his last three starts. The other was an A1 contest, stepping up on that to get off the mark at open level on Sunday. Pom Pom was the opening winner of the three, getting her head back in front late on in a messy contest.

An impressive winner of the opening race was Belinda Green's Behemoth. He is ironically named but when he times his break right as he did yesterday, he has a huge amount of natural ability. Maxine Locke got on the scoresheet to take the other open with Droopys Will who paced up best to the bend, and that was all that was required. 

Towcester treble for Weatherall 

Born Racer was the sprint star on show once more in Northamptonshire, flying to a third straight success over the 270m. He has taken incredibly well to the track and connections will be looking forward to 2026 and a much stronger calendar of races for sprinters at the top level. 

There were notable scalps taken by Weatherall's Tre Cool in his win, notably those of Antigua Kestrel and Silverhill Adam. He has now won four of his last five starts at the track, and looks to be progressing along the right lines to make up into a nice type for the future.

The treble was started with a win for Poly Styrene who bolted clear after some bumping at the opening bend. She only had a D2 win at the track on her card prior in terms of wins, so this was a notable career best for her. 

Patrick Janssens picked up a pair of winners with Slick Sentinel and Romeo Empire. The former has been in excellent heart of late and this track has always been a happy hunting ground for him. Romeo Empire had a wider than ideal draw but his early gears saw him quickly overcome that and he never looked back.

There was another six-bend contest on the card which went to Kevin Hutton's Jet Stream Jane. It was a race of changing fortunes late as Fabulous Maisie was picked up by the winner who then had to see off the strong late challenge from Salacres Belleza in what was one of the best races on the card.

Fire Height Lila won the concluding race for Mark Wallis, showing the best early gears and having got on the bunny, she was not going to be picked up. Laurence Tuffin won the first open on the day with Romeo Talisker, coming from last to first to get the job done.

Sheffield double for Janssens

There was another pair of short-priced winners for the Patrick Janssens team at Sheffield as both Romeo Steel (1/7) and Yahoo Megan (1/2) followed up recent wins at the venue. The 28.31 produced by Romeo Steel was the second quickest time of the year at the track. Megan's 15.83 was the fourth fastest sprint time of the year. 

Grantstown Cross was the quickest of the 480m scorers on the card for Robert Galloway. It was his second win in four starts for the kennel. Gwyneth Rees landed the other 480m contest with Easy Maximus who was winning his third in four. 

The final contest on the card went to Romeo On Point for Kelly Hodson, while the other open saw Rose Draper pick up a winner with Headford Madame who has found some serious consistency over the last couple of months. 

Murty wins sole Hove invitational

There was one invitational sprint on the Hove card in the afternoon which went the way of Sean White's Broadway Murty. The National Sprint finalist was 20 spots shy of his leading time for the year at a track that has seen some of his best career form.

Davy lands three Valley opens

It was nice to see the opens back at Valley on a Sunday, and Donna Davy will have the same thoughts after a treble of wins on the card. Bluejig Aoife, Tri Bella and Droopys Nijinsky were the three who got their heads in front on the day for her to make it 37 open winners on the year.

Pandy Chris was a winner for Charlie Darch, Burrows Magic crossed the line in front for Ross Williams and Brave Billy landed a 33/1 shock for James Danagher to round out the opens.