News

Saturday open report - 13th September

There was a double for Patrick Janssens in the Yorkshire Derby at Doncaster, while there were also opens at Central Park, Monmore and Oxford.

Chris Oliver

14 Sept 2025

Tomcat pounces at Doncaster

Romeo Tomcat was the fastest as the Yorkshire Derby got underway at Doncaster on Saturday night.

The Patrick Janssens-trained dog was sent off a 4/9 favourite for his heat of the 483m competition and justified those odds by leading at the first bend before racing clear.

He crossed the line five and a half lengths clear of Keefill Goose in a standard-setting 29.01.

That completed a double for Janssens after his Slick Sentinel won the second heat in 29.49.

Last year’s finalist was sent off an 8/11 favourite and made every yard a winning one as he won by three-quarters of a length from the fast-finishing On The Wall.

Scooby The Boss (3/1) landed the first instalment for Nathan Hun when hacking up by five lengths in 29.44, while Ricky Overton’s Foxwood Carter struck a blow for the locals when making all (29.39) in the fourth qualifier.

Janssens brought up a hat-trick when Romeo Empire justified 4/11 favouritism with an easy victory in 29.37.

There was a double for Phil Milner courtesy Keefill Rocky (8/15fav), who won over 450m in 27.23, and Keefill Vale (13/8), a trap-to-line winner over the same trip in 27.75.

Peter Harnden kicked the card off with a winner as his Salacres Bullet (10/11fav) made all in the sprint in 17.04, while Sandwood Gabby (6/4fav) gave the locals something to cheer about when scoring over 450m in 27.83 for Susan Watson.

Also winners on the card were Bev Heaton’s Grovenor Chief (7/2) and the Dave Fradgley-trained Tiermana Lucky (3/1).

Locke holds the key at Central Park

There were seven opens at Central Park and Maxine Locke landed two of them.

Her Ballymac Blanco (8/15fav) powered home for an impressive 491m victory in 29.15, while Posh Rocket (2/1) got up late to score in 29.40.

Julie Luckhurst got on the scoresheet when her Nuclear Textbook took the 664m contest in 41.28, while Nick Carter’s Cronody Zuma (7/4fav) landed the sprint in trap-to-line fashion in 16.26.

David Puddy’s Hasty Lottie (2/1) made all in 29.17, the Dan Brabon-trained Blastoff Kobie (4/1) won well in 29.36 and Trumpers Shaq (13/8) scored in 29.71.

Oscar plays a leading role at Monmore

Newinn Oscar won a thriller at Monmore for Nathan Hunt when touching off Kilara Berb to justify 11/8 favouritism in 28.41 (+10).

The other three opens at the Wolverhampton circuit were all sprints and they went to Dynamic Bride (15.48), Jayne Louise (15.51) and Newinn Bachelor (15.29) with going marked as +5 for those contests.

Oxford double for Weatherall

It was a good night for Carol Weatherall at Oxford as she won two of the five opens there.

Born Racer (2/5fav) struck first for the kennel when dominating from the front to win in 27.00 (-10), while Gotacrushonyou went quicker when stopping the clock at 28.63 (-10) in her facile 450m victory.

Start The Engine (2/5fav) completed a course-and-distance hat-trick when making all for Kevin Hutton in 26.54 (-10), while Heather Dimmock’s Droopys Mikado (8/13fav) brought up a 650m double with a trap-to-line success in 39.26 ( -15).

There was also a 650m victory for Matt Dartnall’s Betweenthesticks, who flew home to get up by a short-head in 40.36 (-15)