COOLAVANNY BANI reversed heat form with Blue Tick George to win the Arena Racing Company Grand Prix at Sunderland on Tuesday.

The 640m event, a GBGB Category Two competition, was returned to the schedule this year by track owners and sponsors Arc and produced some fantastic racing and performances including Jim Daly’s Blue Tick George breaking the longstanding track record in the semis with a flying 38.95sec.

However, saving her best break for when it mattered most, Coolavanny Bani got first run on the favourite and, leading into the bend, was always bossing proceedings.

To his credit, Blue Tick George emerged from first-bend crowding to soon give chase in second and the Kent-based raider never gave up, getting to within three-quarters of a length at the line. The winning time was 39.21sec and victory added Coolavanny Bani’s name to a roll of honour dating back to 2007.

Last run in 2018 when Mark Wallis’s Bombers Bullet struck, victory for Coolavanny Bani provided Newcastle trainer Angela Harrison with her first win in the event, although added to partner and assistant trainer Jimmy Wright’s fine record in the competition.

Wright was head man to Graham Hutt for Go Edie Honda’s inaugural win some 14 years years before training back-to-back triumphs in his own name with Crown Rover (2009) and England Expects (2010).

And with the licence now in Harrison’s name, the kennel had three of Tuesday’s Grand Prix finalists, including the well-bred winner.

A May 18 daughter of Droopys Sydney and Toms Delight, Coolavanny Bani is half-sister to top-class former Irish trackers Cable Bay and Jaytee Taylor and comes from the same litter as Blue Riband runner-up Coolavanny Kyser.

Andrew Dalby provided the commentary on the night for Sky Sports Racing and enjoyed overseeing a top night’s final, starting with the final.

“I’d certainly say the Grand Prix final was a classic case of a gritty racer in Coolavanny Bani proving that she didn’t need much of an advantage to hold off a probably faster challenger in Blue Tick George.

“Both like an almost identical part of the track at Sunderland, both probably better suited to traps two or three, instead of one – hence whoever had first run on the other was going to be tough to overtake.

“Their tussle developed into a cracking one, with George becoming infuriated by Bani not totally hugging the rail round the bends, but also not leaving anywhere near enough of an inside gap either for a safe challenge – hence George’s check on the fourth bend as well as not diving through on the inside at the sixth.

“Judging by their sectionals in the final compared to previous rounds, it was more of sluggish start by George than a really sharp one by Bani but none of the other runners broke smartly either so it looked like a better getaway than usual for Bani.

“On the side note, we had an even more dramatic example of that optical illusion in a Newcastle graded race last month that amazed both myself and Darrell Williams in the Sky Sports Racing studio when we thought the winner had made a rocket-fuelled start only for the sectionals to confirm it was an ordinary start for the winner against all five opponents collectively missing the break!

“One other note. Bani and George went off joint-favourites for their heat clash a fortnight ago so it was clearly Blue Tick George’s track record romp in the semis that suddenly created such a big gap in their prices so soon afterwards – albeit breaking a track record dating back to 1995 deserved some gap in their odds I suppose!

“Elsewhere on the card, by far the most eye-catching performance was Sams Elle winning the sprint final despite her trainer Carl Jackson’s understandable frustration that she was lumbered with trap four among five railers when she’d have much preferred either of the inside two boxes.

“However, she broke so well she had the immediate freedom to safely secure her ideal line into the first bend anyway.

“She’s now won sprints round a varied quartet of tracks as Newcastle, Yarmouth, Sheffield and Sunderland and doesn’t turn three years old until August so has plenty of time yet to add further winning venues to that list.”

Results: www.gbgb.org.uk/meeting/?meetingId=372772&raceId=732658