Underground Gold, Scooby The Lady and Resonate lead their Cat One fields

Gold is top again for Young at Monmore

Underground Gold produced the quickest of the three semi-finals of the Ladbrokes Puppy Derby, backing up his exceptional run in the opening round with another rock-solid time, 28.05. It has been a great few days for the Paul Young team, with kennelmate Bowmers Buddy chasing the winner home. He is the most experienced of these and has the red jacket in the final, with the winner sporting the same black jacket he did last night.

Droopys Script sported the striped jacket to success for Maxine Locke, the same draw that he will start from in the final. With five railers inside of him, he is the big winner from the six that qualified as the sole seeded runner. He was chased home by Aayamza Shazza, John Mullins's bitch the sole representative of her sex to make the decider. 

It was Kim Billingham-Hine's Newinn Jolly who landed the other semi, keeping on too strongly for Droopys Vicar who made it a pair in the final for Locke. The winner will bid to follow in the pawprints of his half-brother Untold Dollar who won this competition in 2024. 

Billingham-Hine picked up a double, landing the final race on the card with Onceina Lifetime. He was another to do the best of his work late on in the piece to win his third straight start over 480m here.

Senahel Sydney produced the quickest time over that distance outside of the semi-finals for Nathan Hunt, stopping the clock in 28.22. He was one of six winners on the evening card to sport the butcher's apron, picking up well-loved local Vixons Filofax at the third bend. 

Punters got a surprise in each of the two six-bend contests with both odds-on favourites getting turned over. The quicker of the two winners was Golden Palace for Michelle Brown. Fifth in last week's Queen Mother Memorial Cup final at Sheffield, the veteran was scoring for the first time this year.

Zenith Legend took the other for David Mullins. He had shaped well over a stiffer six bends at Central Park of late and took advantage late on in a messy contest. 

Two sprint races on the evening were won by Longacres Noah and Wanfourtoeknee for Patrick Curtin and Chris Fereday respectively. They both took advantage of their draw on the outside to swoop to the lead at the halfway point.  

Scooby quickest again in Kent Plate

In a competition headlined by defending champion and newly crowned Greyhound of the Year Proper Heiress, Scooby The Lady is making the headlines as she once more went fastest in the Arc Kent Plate for Richard Rees.

She is showing remarkable consistency in recent starts, a single spot quicker on her sectional than last week and that same single spot quicker on her end time. There is a much tricker draw awaiting her in the final but her performance was right out of the top drawer once more. Cinderella Tell chased her home for Paul Donovan.

Proper Heiress was the second quickest semi-final winner. Mark Wallis's star was five spots slower on his split than Scooby The Lady but clocked a finish time nine spots slower. That shows the quality of run that Rees's bitch produced last night, with Maxine Locke's Ballymac Axel getting closest to him.

Just a single spot slower than Proper Heiress was Burrows Charm for Jason Heath. We've said it before in these reviews but it's worth repeating, this is a dog who makes Cat One finals over four bends but can break a track record over six. He picked up his fourth win on the bounce, beating Droopys Graph for Patrick Janssens and is a danger to all with just 10 spots covering the three semis winners.

Barry O'Sullivan topped and tailed the card with Autumn Fleadh and Good Rainbow, one of just two trainers to pick up more than a single winner from the 13 open races. The former was completing a hat-trick having won A2 and A1 ahead of this open. The latter was winning for the sixth time in eight runs in 2026, with this a fourth win over 664m.

The other trainer to pick up a double was Rees who sent out Avarua Lake to score in a sprint contest. He wasn't as quick to stride as a couple of his rivals, losing his pitch for a couple of strides at the opening bend but he still clocked 16.20 which was a very impressive opening look given the way things panned out.

Thurlesbeg Pablo took the other sprint on the night for Paul Donovan, just a spot slower than Avarua Lake. He made a winning UK debut last week, adding to his successes in Ireland where he scored on each of his last four runs at Shelbourne. 

It has been a bit feast or famine on the card of Half Jarred of late but Julie Luckhurst's charge picked up a win over 491m in 29-dead. That's two wins and a second from his last six but he has not beaten a rival home in the other three. It was his 10th win overall at the track, with four of those coming in open company. 

Quickest of the winners over six bends was Bubbly Evie for Tony Dean. An eye-catching 35.45 winner at Romford on her UK debut in November, she had been seen just once since when competing in the opening round of the bet365 Puppy Oaks at Oxford. 450m was an insufficient test for her but 664m seemed to suit well.

The biggest priced winner of the night came from Robert Emery's Reality Power at 11/1. Early crowding took out the two at the head of the market but that is not to take anything away from the winner who chased home Princess Matilda when she broke the 664m track record at this track and also Greenwell Gypsy when she set the 905m clock at Nottingham.

Burgess Sailor took the other staying contest on the card for Nick Carter, making just about all of the running. Tony Gifkins landed a winner with Capel Moon and Dan Brabon saw Bumble Belles bounce back to winning ways, both of those over 491m.

Resonate leads home the Hunt Cup semi-finalists

Favourite for the bet365 Hunt Cup going into yesterday's semis was Venetian Mick for Kevin Hutton but he was soundly beaten by his kennelmate Resonate who came away running from the six box to land the quicker of the two heats. Java Joan chased home Venetian Mick last week in the heats for Seamus Gaughan, filling the runner-up slot again with Remember Betty for Matt Dartnall in third. 

Seamus Cahill landed the other semi-final with Powerhouse Duke who continues to impress now that he has stepped up in distance. A head behind Resonate in the heats, he won by that margin, seeing off Ballymac Madgie who ran her usual honest race for Shaun Gresham to make it to back-to-back Hunt Cup finals, plus a Challenge Cup decider in between. The Other Winx rounded out the final six for Maxine Locke.

There were three more winners on the undercard for Hutton, led by Coppice Ferry in a very smart 26.51, the second quickest time of the year so far. He had rattled off a quick fire hat-trick last December to start his career, getting back to that level of form for his first win since. 

Highfield Andy and Demba Bark produced the other winners for Hutton. The former got his head in front for the first time since September while the latter was adding to an A4 win which came on her race debut just five weeks ago.

The quickest time of the day over 650m wasn't either of the Hunt Cup semis but rather Angie Kibble's Ballymac Loca. She had led a very strong field a merry dance for a long way at the end of February, the veteran enjoying the lesser company. Laura Pruhs took the other 650m contest with Joy Wild.

David Lewis has enjoyed an excellent start to 2026, Drews Fantasy his 13th open race winner of the year, proving to be unlucky for punters, scoring at 10/1. The other open on the card went to Venetian Jock for John Campbell, the son of Signet Ace getting himself off the mark in open race company.

Morris doubles up at Dunstall

Not So Steady had made a winning start to life with Craig Morris in the opening round of the Winter Derby in February, showing off a serious 2.91 sectional on his way to a sub 28-second run over 480m at Dunstall Park last night. Just the second dog of the year to break that barrier, one would imagine Towcester's 2025 Juvenile Classic runner-up will head back there for a tilt at the Derby after a Laurels bid at this track.

Morris's double was kicked off by Droopys Trade who, like Not So Steady, has found his way to the Morris range from the kennel of Patrick Janssens. He exited the Derby at the quarter-final stage last year having won each of his opening three rounds but has not been seen much since. He produced 28.26 on his first competitive start since November.

Arguably the strongest of the Laurels trial stakes on the card went to Mike Burton's Droopys Aladdin. It looked early on like Morris might be on for a treble as his Flashing Fender led round but the Winter Derby runner-up had turned handy enough to pick up the running down the back.

Two other Laurels trial stakes saw Nathan Hunt take one with Sams Magic who showed the best pace up from her draw on the inside to add to her impressive win at the track last Saturday night. The other went to Rolo Rosie for Sally Johnson, running for the first time over four bends since a Swindon A1 last November.

Another upcoming competition is the inaugural Dunstall Dash with Born Racer laying down a marker for Carol Weatherall. 15.82 is not quite as quick as he has done here in the past but he was not as sharply into stride as a couple of others, producing a strong run all the same. 

The other sprint trial stake went to Kim Billingham-Hine's Newinn Souly. His kennelmate Newinn Bachelor was sent off as favourite but he could only finish third with Roanna Mamba splitting the pair for Michelle Brown. 

Doncaster treble for Susan Watson

There was a treble at Doncaster for Susan Watson a week ago, the kennel going back-to-back with another this week. Sandwood Gabby produced the quickest 450m time seen at the track so far this year, already her sixth win of 2026 from just nine starts. 

Droopys Typical won for the third straight week over the same distance, showing the best pace on the short run into the opening turn. That is four wins from five starts to kick off the career of the August 24 whelp. It will be interesting to see what the long term plans are for her.

A 483m contest formed the middle leg of the treble as Gaytime Orla produced a smart 4.10 split to blitz her rivals from the front. It was only the second time that she has been seen over this distance in her 28 races but given her winning time of 29.56, it surely won't be the last.

Debbie Calvert had the quickest 483m winner on the night with Bombay Fantasy. He had finished behind Gothic Joshua in a dual distance final last week, and looked to have plenty on his plate with Keefill Goose in opposition, but he swept around the outside off the second bend to kick clear down the back.

The six-bend race on the card went to Rose Draper's Rockmount Lucy for the second week running, pouncing late on in the day to take the prize. She shapes as if a return to further is going to be a plus for her this summer.

At the other end of the distance scale there was a decent sprinting win from Ballarue Rolo for Samantha Lapidge. He used his early pace and then his position on the inside of Colliers Buckholz to take the win in a smart 16.79, the quickest of the year so far.

The biggest winning margin of the night was 10 and three-quarter lengths as Lisa Stephenson's Sandwood Mover got out and away to miss the trouble in the final contest of the evening. Clona Chief picked up a 450m win for David Verner and Drumdoit Gizmo landed a sprint for Joy Andrews.