Thursday Hove Trebles for Rees and Young

A pair of trebles at Hove on Thursday

Thursday night at Hove saw a pair of trebles with Richard Rees and Paul Young both clocking up a trio of winners. Belinda Green added a double to take eight of the 10 opens on offer between the three of them.

Performance of the night over 500m came in the final race on the card, a veterans contest won by Uncle Freddie. A Sussex Cup finalist back in the summer of 2024, this was his first win since last June, doing it in style. A strong stayer over this trip, he was not the quickest to stride but once he had worked his way to the front, he strode clear in impressive fashion to produce a time of 29.29.

Zenith Rocket was the opposite from the traps, a slick 3.45 split setting him up to land another 500m contest. He owns a remarkable strike rate for Rees, the winner of 11 of his 19 starts for the kennel, he reversed the form from last week when he was behind his kennelmate Clona Kody.

It was a sprint contest that formed the middle leg of the Rees treble, Dereks Champ justifying his short odds, using the red jacket to great effect to pick up the running around the opening bend. He won five of his seven starts when trained in Ireland, getting off the mark in the UK at the seventh time of asking last night.

Paul Young had the winners of both heats of a 515m competition. Droopys Alldeway was the quicker of the pair in the first heat, getting to the opening bend in front and building up enough of a lead to hold off the late charge from Seamus Cahill's Moving Force who was returning to action after three months off.

Heat one had gone to Bowmers Sheeran, winning at the track for the second week in a row. He had beaten Zenith Rocket and Clona Kody the week prior, form that was to be franked later on in the evening. His winning time was 28 spots slower than his kennelmate but he did it from just off the pace, getting up in the dying strides.

Droopys Sometime completed the treble later in the night, taking a 500m race. The August 24 pup had been knocking on the door in February, twice filling the runner-up slot at Romford. It was the first win of his career, and not for the first time suggested that he is going to want a little bit further in time.

Oaks finalist Raebella Bullet picked up a strong 29.31 success in a decent bitches field. Runner-up Rapido Rosin has been in flying form herself and she was promptly put in her place after finding a little bit of trouble at the opening bend. The winner should be a big player for Belinda Green in what could be a strong renewal of the Coral Brighton Belle which starts on April 11.

There was a hat-trick of wins secured for Green's Bombshell Bullet, picking up an open race win after a pair of A1 triumphs. Her early pace saw her avoid the trouble at the opening bend and stretch eight lengths clear of her rivals. 

Two six-bend races went to Unthinkable for Seamus Cahill and Alright Patricia for David Lewis. The former had chased home Romeo Empire at close quarters back in the summer, form that saw him sent off odds-on, a market position that he justified by seven lengths. 

Alright Patricia had been beaten a length by Broncos Bullet in the heats of a six-bend competition last week but she turned that around when it mattered, picking up that rival late on. He had been in a battle on the speed with Dereks Legend, so the race set up nicely for the winner to pounce late on.