Woltemade heads home the Northern Puppy Derby winner for Jimmy Fenwick

Woltemade scores for Fenwick

The Jimmy Fenwick team picked up the Arena Racing Company Northern Puppy Derby last night with Woltemade but it was a race marred by incident as Ballymac Buddy and Backtoyourbest both suffered serious issues. 

The winner had already cracked out off the back of a 4.48 split, so there is every chance that the result was not affected in terms of the winner of the race, producing the run of his life to come home three lengths clear of his kennelmate Ballymac Service in second.

It was a fourth win from just seven starts for the winner who ended up on the floor himself in a race won by Ballymac Buddy just after Christmas. Fortunately there was no lasting damage and he picked up his biggest win so far. 

Butterbridge Top was the biggest surprise on the night at 11/1 but she got the night off to an excellent start for Fenwick, landing a sprint contest. It was only her second race over two bends, trapping much better than she had the first time around. 

There was a superb double on the night for Tom Heilbron, started with Bower Sheeran. His 16.70 sprint win was a time right out of the top drawer. The National Sprint runner-up was making his 2026 debut and looks set for an excellent year.

A dog who provided the Heilbron kennels with plenty to cheer about in 2025 was the other winner on the card for the team, Droopys Bookem. The black jacket looked potentially treacherous for him but his trackcraft saw him around In a challenging position to grab the front-running Sole Focus late on.

Although the Debbie Calvert team were out of luck there, they had seen Soapy Suds make her six-bend debut earlier on in the night in some style. She always looked destined for going further, making the final of the bet365 Puppy Oaks despite 450m at Oxford blatantly not being far enough. Leading up, she ran away with it by five lengths in a very promising 38.85.

Another trainer to pick up a pair of winners on the night was Samantha Lapidge. Gothic Joshua has been showing some very smart form at Doncaster, producing decent times in both top grade and open races there. He had looked unlucky on his Newcastle debut, timing his break better to go clear early on.

The double was completed by Devista who charted a wide course that kept him out of trouble. He was bringing up a hat-trick of wins following a pair of B2 wins at Doncaster on just his fourth start for the kennel after joining from Rose Draper.

Copney Queen was unfortunate not to make the decider of the Northern Puppy Derby but perhaps having watched the final, the John Flaherty team might've been happier taking their winner on the night rather than see her line up in that trouble-filled contest. 

A 706m event got the feature action going on the night, with Fabulous Spell making all the running for Ronald Knights. The pair inside her (including the hot favourite) both walked from the boxes, handing her immediate control of the inside and that was all that she required. 

Savva Roberts picked up a win on the night from Born Scooby. He was always within shouting range of Howay Tonali who had gone around in front of the field, and his superior stamina won him the battle late in the day.

The other open on the night went to Dunelm Le Fee for Ryan Buckton. It was his second win in just three starts since joining the kennel, though he won his first two in Ireland as well. He is a litter brother to Sole Focus who had just failed to make it a family double. 

Hove four-timer for Jason Heath 

After a treble at Hove last Thursday, Jason Heath went one better with four last night, and all on the bounce. Burrows Eclipse was the pick of them, dipping under 29 seconds for his 500m success. He is the first dog to do that this year and he also produced one of 14 times that broke that barrier in 2025.

Burrows Charm took the step back down to four bends in his stride after breaking the Central Park 664m track record and competing in the Ladbrokes Golden Jacket. He needed most of the 500m to get himself on top but is proving to be a hugely adaptable type.

The winning spree was concluded with Droopys Deploy backing up his first win for the kennel last week. He is a top-notch performer when on top of his game and connections will surely have Towcester in mind for a dog more than capable of mixing it up with the best.

A six-bend winner kicked off Heath's four-timer as Rules For Some came home in front. A semi-finalist in both the Coral Regency and the George Curtis and Ballyregan Bob Memorial last year, she is a very capable stayer on her day.

The highlight for many people on the evening will have been the return to action of Shadow Storm for Richard Rees. The National Sprint winner wasn't well away but he paced up best to pick up the lead hallway around the turns to run out an easy winner.

Zenith Rocket made it a double for Rees on the evening, scoring win number five from his last seven starts in the process. He got on top late on to grab Paul Young's Rapido Roisin who had been knocked over in the opening round of the Northern Puppy Derby when last seen.

Young had a winner earlier on the card with Droopys Rated. Just an April 24 whelp, he relished stepping up to six bends for the first time. That shouldn't be a surprise given that he is from a repeat mating that produced Droopys Clue and Droopys Flotilla previously.

Ballydoyle Eile landed a messy bitches competition for David Dark, making good use of her draw in the red jacket, she managed to get enough of a lead to hold off the challenge of Carl Gardiner's Easy Tizzy. Gardiner had better luck in the closing contest with Snazzy Mary taking control from an early stage. 

Seamus Cahill won the other sprint on the card with Brother Patrick on just his second career start. Montalto Gift opened up the night with a win for Belinda Green while Montalto Glory scored for Mattie Richards.