SWIFT ICONIC made it back-to-back Steel City Cup successes for John Mullins with a game front-running performance to win the BresBet-backed showpiece on Tuesday.

On a night when human efforts matched those of the canine stars on the track – broadcaster Dani Jackson won the @Sheffield Retired Human Handicap – it was the Yarmouth Derby runner-up who went one better in the £8,000-to-the-winner GBGB Category One decider.

Well away and crucially getting first run on chief rival Coolavanny Shado (Patrick Janssens), the Chris Waters-owned October 2020 son of Droopys Roddick and Swift Biology cut the bend to head off a challenge at the turn from the favourite and went on, taking a clear advantage into the back-straight.

Thereafter, last year’s Oxford Gold Cup winner was always in command and kept up the gallop to the wire, winning by four and a quarter lengths from the keeping-on One Day Tom (Jason Gray) and Acomb Felix (Kevin Ferguson). The winning time for the 500m trip was 28.68sec (normal).

The victory delighted winning trainer John Mullins who sent out Signet Goofy to win the event 12 months previously, although he admitted things had not been straightforward with Swift Iconic heading into the Sheffield showpiece.

“I wasn’t happy with him at Yarmouth and he was probably lucky to even be in the final,” said Mullins, after Swift Iconic was marked awkward in the second round at Yarmouth. “But then he’s run good seconds behind (Coolavanny) Shado in the semis and then behind Seamus’s dog (Watch The Limo) in the final.

“So while you’d say it was out of character, he’s dodged a bullet, and has now won the Steel City Cup – he definitely concentrated more at Sheffield! Having said that, I’m not sure any of us would’ve beaten Kevin’s dog (Rioja Joey) in the final and we all wish him a quick recovery.”

Mullins said that Swift Iconic could be kept to one-off races in the short term.

Sheffield on Tuesday also saw a charity human race after racing with Dani Jackson leading home Sheffield commentator Rob Crawford, fund-raiser and syndicate organiser Billy Brennan, Owlerton’s venue director Matt Hamilton, the track’s director of racing Andrew Mascarenhas, and trainer’s son Connor Davy.

The human race raised over £6,500 for Sheffield’s retired greyhounds.