Sargie's Stewards Cup while Skye, Jason and Gold all give Cat One shows

Sargie goes back-to-back in the Stewards Cup

Sent off as the outsider of the final six in the SIS/Star Sports Stewards Cup final was no concern to Ballymac Sargie who pinged the lids on the outside and used his peach of a draw to avoid the trouble and land the contest for the second year on the bounce, this time as a Category One. He was retired immediately afterwards, going out on the highest of highs.

The veteran has taken on the best on a regular basis in his career, picking the perfect opportunity to land his first success since January, a win that at the time was bringing up a five-timer. He had made the finals of the Grand Prix and the Northern Flat this year prior to this, producing the biggest win of his life. 

The Other Chief was the one to emerge from the trouble behind to run him closest, only beaten three-quarters of a length at the line, keeping on powerfully for Phil Milner. Tom Heilbron's other runner Droopys Bookem came home in third, outstaying favourite Witton Gucci who picked a terrible time to miss her break for Glenn Foot. Richie Taberner's Aero Pepinillo showed up well for three bends, challenging for the lead when getting badly hampered as Rapido Benny tried to get up his inside for Ricky Holloway.

There was another surprise winner, though not as big as 25/1, on the undercard for Heilbron as Little Pretender turned over 3/10 hotshot Foulkscourt Bono in a sprint. He too was the quickest to stride, able to keep the market leader to his outside around the turns to take the win. 

Foot did manage to pick up a pair of winners on the night despite the reverses, with Caister Kay going joint quickest over 435m. She was one favourite who did the business for Foot, producing an impressive 5.40 split on her way to success. 

Slingshot Franky was Foot's other winner, this time as the spoiler for short odds punters as he beat Droopys Graph in a six-bend contest. It was just his second win in 12 starts for the kennel, coming home in a time that was 21 spots quicker than the big final was won in.

Holloway also picked up a double on the card, with Punk Rock Rosie the other to tie as the quickest four-bend winner on the night in a veterans contest. She was already well in control of proceedings when the rest of the field found trouble at the second bend, allowing her to come home some 14 lengths to the good. 

There was a surprise in the hurdle contest as Mickeys Tribute found himself turned over for the second week on the bounce. Having kicked things off with a long unbeaten run here over the obstacles, he has lost his form at the wrong time with the Grand National upcoming.   

An eight-bend contest went to Taberner's Innfield Fifi, a bitch who has always had stamina in abundance. Her last win came in the opening round of the TV Trophy over 925m at Towcester back in May when with Paul Young, getting herself going in time to run down the long time leader Razldazl Paloma on this occasion, close to the line.

The final race on the card went to Ross Miller's Emers Dasha. She had managed to avoid the trouble outside of her at the opening bend, showing plenty of pace down the back to grab the contest as hers at the third bend. It was a winning debut for her having joined from Paul Donovan.  

Neil Brown was on target with Pressure Tie who beat a solid field of Star Pelaw open regulars in his win. He had scored an open race success here a couple of starts back to add to a Newcastle victory from back in August. He looks a handy type for connections. 

It was Cornforth Fire who landed the other open on the card, making most of the running in a puppy contest for David Wilkinson. It was a first win at the fifth attempt for the April 25 son of Dromana Bocko. His dam was a five time open race winner in a 15-race career, and this lad has added one for her first litter. 

One spot separates Gold and Lady in the Kent Derby semis

What a spectacular contest awaits us next Saturday night at Central Park as the top four in the ante-post betting for the Premier Greyhound Racing Kent Derby all made their way through to the final. 

It was Paul Young's Select Stakes winner who was just the sharpest on the card, coming away well from the red jacket, picking his line a little further out than the inside to go on to comfortably see off Scoobby Mustang of Carol Weatherall's who chased him home to make a second major final after the Puppy Classic at Nottingham. 

The winner of the Puppy Classic was also in action but Annadown Warrior had to be satisfied with second place and qualification for Maxine Locke behind Arc Kent Plate winner Scooby The Lady. Richard Rees's star bitch adores this venue, pacing up best into an opening bend lead and comfortably making another major final.

Proper Heiress had been the star of the opening round with his new track record run. It was understandable that he would have a tough task on to go better than that but he did what he needed to, getting himself into the final with another success for Mark Wallis. The time was well behind the other two semis but that's of little concern to connections. Watcha Gotcookin ran a monster of a race to grab second for Kerry Schimmefennig to provide her first Category One finalist. 

There was another winner for Wallis on the undercard as Vhagar made a successful debut at the track. She missed her break and then got a bump from leader Romeo Empire at the second bend which set her back, but her class got her home in the end to win for the 31st time in 50 starts.

Patrick Janssens has a double on the card with last year's Kent Derby winner Romeo Tomcat returning to winning ways in impressive fashion. He took off down the back, showing the middle gears that have made him such a classy performer. He missed his break but it didn't matter to him in this field, comfortably getting himself to the front.

Yahoo Megan landed a sprint contest to open up the Janssens brace, also overcoming a slower exit form the traps than her rivals. She got away with it on this occasion, showing her usual smart straight line speed to pick up the lead at the opening bend, still showing a remarkable level of consistency for her age. 

Another trainer to pick up a pair of winners was Weatherall, adding to Scooby Mustang making the Kent Derby final. Ari Up has found her form again in recent weeks since being stepped up to six bends, popping out in front and getting far enough clear to hold off the running on Newinn Cloud

Poly Styrene made it a pair of winners on the night in a bitches contest. She was impressive from the front over six bends at this venue last week but she was typically slow to stride back over 491m. Having made her way into second heading into the back, she had plenty of ground to make up on the leader but she ground her down late on. 

The quicker of the two sprint winners on the card was Barrie Backhurst's Deelish Lady. She came away a little better than she has been doing of late and that made all the difference to her. She had a hot spell from late-July to late-August, scoring for the first time since. 

The card opened with a win for Julie Luckhurst and Woodys Banga. She has been running more than respectably of late in open contests, finally able to land one after a run of two seconds, two thirds and four fourths in prior attempts.

Maxine Locke closed out the night with the final winner in the shape of Headford Lily. She was a first round casualty in the Oaks last week at Dunstall Park but quickly got herself back on the winning trail at a track where she has found regular success.  

Skye and Jason set Dunstall rocking

It was an exceptional card at Dunstall Park last night with six second round heats of the Premier Greyhound Racing Oaks alongside the six first round heats of the Arc Scurry Gold Cup. 

Strike It Skye was quickest in round one of the bitches classic, and she kept that title in round two, but only just. Mark Wallis's star joined Newinn Uganda at the top of the tree in terms of the fastest times of 2026, an outstanding run given that she was led up by Ruth Lambe's Dapper Daffy who ran a monumental race in defeat. 

Graham Holland's team all made it safely through to the semi-final stage next week, with two winners including Fahrenheit Jess. She had been picked up last week by Strike It Skye, the only one of the Holland four to taste defeat. Without that bitch in opposition, she backed up the smart impression she had made in defeat, pulling clear with Paul Young's Copney Queen.

Bombay Special was the other winner for Holland in a race where her kennelmate Ballydoyle Tina made it safely through behind her. It was an all the way win from the wide runner who put her stamp on proceedings courtesy of a 2.95 split. From that point, she was well in front. 

There was a winner for Maxine Locke as Headford Fiona backed up her opening round success with another. Her five and a half length romp was impressive, though she was helped by trouble behind her at the opening bend. 2025 runner-up Kilwest Diva was sent off at 22/1 but she qualified safely for Kim Billingham-Hine.

It was not one of the lightning breaks from Slingshot Poppy that we are used to but she still showed more than enough pace to overcome that and squeeze up the inside at the opening bend to get the job done. Brian Fairbairn's charge has won a remarkable 19 of her 26 runs on British soil now.  

The other heat went to Kevin Hutton's Signet Nayla who added an Oaks semi-final at this track to her recent Arc Birmingham Cup final slot. Her early pace continues to be a huge tool in her arsenal, getting away from the field early to hold off the late charge of Richie Taberner's Produce Stakes winner Countess Penny. 

Hutton had the quickest of the Scurry winners with new sprint sensation Magical Jason. He produced the quickest time of 2026 in the opening race of the night, stopping the clock at 15.50, just one spot outside of the track record which had been set in this event last year. After just eight career starts, he could well go quicker yet.

Shadow Storm is the dog who currently holds the track record here, getting his bid for back-to-back Scurry Gold Cups off to a flying 15.60 start for Richard Rees. It was his first race action since August 1, arriving fresh and ready to make his mark on what looks on paper to be an outstanding competition. 

There was a double for Rees with Avarua Lake making the most of a heat that saw him sent off the 2/13 market leader. His four and three-quarter length success was tied for the longest of the opening round. He has bounced back to winning ways in style at Hove, winning three straight which includes a beating of Shadow Storm.

There was another strong showing from Stuart Tighe's Dunstall Dash winner Good Acclaim to get his campaign off to the perfect start. Quickly in control, he oozes quality, getting his head in front for the 14th time in 17 starts for Tighe, with two of those three defeats coming at Monmore. His presence adds plenty to an already deep field.  

Ballinakill Liam landed the final of the Arc Silver Salver earlier on in the year for Wallis, and he made a comfortable beginning to his Scurry bid with a four and three-quarter length beating of Blow Out. His Central Park win last Saturday night was his first since lifting the Silver Salver, shaping as if he is being brought back to the boil at the perfect time. 

The other heat went to Michelle Brown's Roanna Mamba. He had been impressive in a pair of Doncaster wins the last two weeks which meant he arrived without a look since the Centenary celebration night at the end of July. He got the better of fellow veteran Crafty Alejandro in a win for the old boys. 

Unreal and Sanctuary both clock identical Laurels semi-final wins

28.20 was the time of the night at Cork as both Droopys Unreal and Slick Sanctuary won their Laurels semis in identical times. The former took the opening one for Ian Reilly, backing up his impressive 28.15 win last week with a six-length romp to stamp his place firmly in the decider. He was chased home by Dean Harpur's Ballycowen Moon who continues to do all of his best work late on in his races. 

Slick Sanctuary picked a fine time to pick up his first win of the competition for Karol Ramsbottom, improving his time with each round of this competition. This was the first time that he has hit the lids which was a help to him in seeing off Liam Dowling's Ballymac Kamala who gave chase.

Dowling landed the middle of the three semis as Ballymac Setanta booked his place in the Bar 1 Racing Laurels final for the second straight year. His 28.38 was the slowest of the three but he was untroubled to pull clear by seven lengths, not being pushed to go any quicker. He was followed home by Sure Exile for Andrew Lynch.

Monmore four-timer for Billingham-Hine

Seven opens were on offer at Monmore where Kim Billingham-Hine took four winners, including both six-bend opens on the card. Bandit Paddy was the quicker of those two winners, an Arc Stayers Cup finalist earlier on in the year at Dunstall Park, he bounced back to winning ways, picking up the lead at the fifth bend.

Skylers Vision was the other 630m scorer for Billingham-Hine, She was shuffled back early on and was still last as the field passed their starting point heading into the fifth bend. From there, she just took off around the outside of runners to win with plenty in hand come the line. 

A sprint contest went to Takemawaytony in a solid time of 15.34. He was 0/4 to start his career over the 480m trip at this track but is now a perfect 4/4 since he has been sent sprinting. The kennel know how to produce these speedy types, so he is going to be interesting to follow into next year to see how far he can go.   

Vixons Hitman was the first open winner of the four, scoring over four bends. Making his debut for the kennel after coming over from Liam Dowling, he tracked the leader around and proved too strong coming home. He found. a couple of trouble spots early and then looked to idle in front, so there should be plenty to come from him. 

Quickest of the night over 480m was Dave Lee's Untold Dinero. A prior trial here by the Produce Stakes finalist left a bit to be desired, even as a first look, but he took a massive step forward from that. A slick exit set him on his way to poaching an early lead, and that had his rivals chasing their tails from an early stage.  

Brian Thompson equalled his 2025 open race win haul with Stonepark Delta scoring. He was electric early on, clocking a flying 4.24 sectional which saw him well away and gone from the trouble behind him. He was getting himself off the mark at open level at the 13th time of asking. 

Zenith Rocket took the other open on the card, winning on his second start for Richie Taberner. He had some very smart efforts at Hove for Richard Rees where he found the stiff 500m just a hair on the long side for him. 480m around Monmore could be just the ticket, impressive from the front here. 

Hutton takes three at Doncaster

The added money that Doncaster have been putting into their open races is really starting to be rewarded of late as the quality of runners at the track continues to improve. This week they lured Kevin Hutton to the track, with the Burford maestro heading home with three winners courtesy of Rebel Madrid, Velvet Joe and Velvet Harper. 

Headford Asher and Keefill Teak gave Phil Milner a double on the night. Both winners came over the 483m distance and were two of the six runners on the card to produce a time in the top 40 of the year over that trip. The former made almost every yard of the running while the latter got on top much later in the day.

There was also a double for Michelle Brown who has picked up 13 opens at this track now this year, second only to her former home track of Suffolk Downs. Both wins came over the shorter four-bend distance with Parkview Jack the quicker of the pair from the front over Hesdaguvnor who tracked the leader round before pouncing on the run-in.

Four other races over 450m made up a large chunk of the card, with the quickest of those being Moanteen Ace for Richie Taberner. The card opened with a success for Tom Heilbron and Demon Hunter with Sean Parker and Robert Copping also getting on the mark over the trip with Charming Delight and Coolruss Ronnie respectively. 

Susan Watson and Debbie Calvert took the other two 483m winners with Sandalwood Gabby and Good Hormuz. Ballintubberstar picked up the sole staying contest on the night for Barry Denby, beating Select Stayers champion Radical Story. A pair of sprint races were won by Sally Clark's Tickets King and Jane Craske's Adamant Erin.