CARRIGOON CECE landed Michelle Brown a hugely popular first Category One success when making rivals see red in the final of the Coral Romford Puppy Cup Final at the Essex track.

Daughter of Hazel Kemp, a former trainer herself who now works as a kennelhand alongside husband Michael for Michelle, Carrigoon Cece finally landed a major victory for the handler after a number of near-misses – and Brown herself was delighted it came at the London Road venue.

“I’ve always enjoyed going to Romford and we went close a few years back in the Cesarewitch with Micks Little Gem,” said the Wisbech-based handler. “We’re always made to feel very welcome there and I’m just delighted for the whole team and must thank everyone who got in touch to congratulate us.

“It really was a night I’ll never forget and it meant a lot to have so many trainers in particular congratulate me. It was a dream come true really and thank-you to all my owners for supporting me and, more importantly, putting their trust in me when I took over from mum.

“Stuart (Brown, husband) does so much work with the dogs and I know Cece’s win means a lot to him, too, plus Adam Duncan, a good friend of dad’s, gets a lot of credit for finding Cece and to Noel Casey who did a fantastic job in breeding and schooling her.  She’s absolutely fearless and a credit to him.

“Mum and dad also deserve a big, big mention, as do all of team, including George Drake who does so much great work with the dogs. To win the Romford Puppy Cup and also the other final on the night really was amazing – and just kick-started a fantastic weekend given we also had a finalist at Dunstall Park in the (Arc) Birmingham Cup.

“It’s just great for the team as a whole to be mixing with the best kennels and getting runners into major finals – and I’m delighted to have won with a good bunch of owners, all part of the Michelle Brown Syndicate. And for Cece to win in just her third race for us, and as the only bitch in the race, was so good.

“Of course, all of us were just delighted to see Darcys Dude and Paradise Probono both okay after the race. That was the main thing and fair play to both Craig (Morris) and David (Mullins) for getting the information out there quickly that their runners were okay. David was one of the first trainers to congratulate me which was lovely.”

Darcys Dude (Craig Morris), the hot favourite for the £10,000 prize, and Paradise Probono (David Mullins) had come together at the bend and were brought down, with the fast-starting Carrigoon Cece always bossing proceedings inside off a 3.72sec sectional before going on to score by three and a half lengths in 24.23sec (normal).

Jacquesinthebox (Dave Lee) was second ahead of Populist (Gemma Evans) in third.

Earlier, the Michelle Brown-trained Goldcash Prince led early to win the supporting Quicksilver Final over 575m, the winner scoring by four and three-quarter lengths from Coonough Laura (Mark Wallis) in 35.54sec (normal).

Photos: © Steve Nash