DROOPYS BIGGY and Blackhouse Harry were joint-fastest in the heats as the ARC Northern Puppy Derby kicked off at Newcastle on Tuesday.

First up was the Angela Harrison-trained Droopys Biggy as the April 2020 son of Ballymac Eske and Droopys Cuckoo overcame second-bend crowding to lead down the back-straight and draw right away from his rivals to win heat four impressively, crossing the line almost ten lengths clear of kennelmate Tommys Blast in 28.54sec (-20).

Stuart Ray’s Blackhouse Conni was third here and the same kennel then sent out Blackhouse Harry to win heat six, matching Droopys Biggy’s time.

The Aug 2020 son of Confident Rankin and Emers Diva showed the early pace to lead at the bend and, with crowding behind, was soon clear and on his way to a near-six lengths victory for the Ray camp over Innfield Trojan (Tom Heilbron) and Maree Poacher (Debbie Calvert) in 28.54sec (-10).

Mickys Barrett was just one slower on outright clocks in heat one as the Jason Gray-trained March 2020 son of Out Of Range ASB and The Other Tessa was quickly away, racing to a fastest-of-the-night 4.51sec split, before just holding the keeping-on Freedom Alibi (Tom Heilbron) by a short-head with hot favourite Havana Bale Out (Liz McNair) third. The winning time was 28.55sec (-20).

The Brian Fairbairn-trained Good Vienna came through an exiting buckle with Little Seven (Tom Heilbron) before winning heat two. The Pelaw raider soon joined issue with the fast-trapping local hope and the pair dominated throughout before the red-jacketed runner went on for a length victory over Little Seven in 28.90sec (-20). Havana Lover (Liz McNair) qualified on debut in third here.

Jimmy Fenwick struck with another home-trained winner in heat three as Coppice Ice (Crash-Bigmans Grainne, March 2020) made all in 29.04sec (-20) ahead of Quivers Maria (Yvonne Bell) and Arlos Sweep (Senga Maxwell), while Tom Heilbron’s Fourbet Layla (Confident Rankin-Freedom Dream, April 2020) landed a trap-to-line victory in heat five from Ruffian Pippa (Jimmy Fenwick) and Havana Robusto (Liz McNair) in 28.82sec (-10).

Stadium manager Ian Walton, commenting after the six heats of the 480m competition at the north-east venue, said: “It was a fantastic night’s racing with outstanding semi-finals coming up on Tuesday.

“Mickey Barrett’s large support were rewarded with a brilliant performance in which the first three in heat one are all capable of going far in the competition – favourite Havana Bale Out still looked outstanding in defeat.

“Droopys Biggy also looked very impressive for Angela Harrison and is a hot prospect, while underrated Blackhouse Harry ran a blinder for trainer Stuart Ray, which was no surprise to locals. He’s the real deal.

“There were lots of other performances of note on the night and it’s still open. Roll on next Tuesday – it’s all to play for and the best of luck to connections for next week’s semi-finals.

“The Northern Puppy Derby is one of the most famous races in the Calendar and treasured here at Newcastle. It’s an earlier date this year which which means the event is showcasing plenty of greyhounds to follow for the rest of 2022.”

Trap draw for Tuesday’s semi-finals: https://www.newcastle-greyhounds.co.uk/racing/results/

Results: https://www.gbgb.org.uk/meeting/?meetingId=381785&raceId=812301

*Maree Poacher (lame) has been withdrawn lame from the third semi-final. Trap three is now vacant.