ACOMB JENNY could target the showpiece British-bred races still to come in 2020 after completing her domination of the event in Thursday’s BGBF British Bred Northern Maiden Standard Final at Newcastle.

Bred, owned and trained by Kevin Ferguson, the August 2018 daughter of Hiya Butt and Acomb Ruby made almost all in the 480m final to repeat her victories in the heats and semi-final, thus completing an unbeaten run through the £3,000-to-the-winner maiden competition.

Crossing the line one a three-quarter lengths clear of Scottish raider Killie Phantom (Robert Thomson) and Pelaw Grange’s Short Verse (Ray Thompson), Acomb Jenny posted 28.54sec to delight her Yorkshire-based handler.

Ferguson said: “Once she’d done 28.28sec in the semi-finals you had to be pretty confident, but you always never know. She actually missed her break in the final but paced up well to lead and showed what’s she’s all about.

“There were five in the litter and all have done pretty well,” he added. “Jenny had to miss the Produce Stakes at Swindon because of Swindon but this looked a new good event to go for – and we’ll probably looking at Nottingham now.

“They’ve got the two-run British-bred event (The Westmead Legacy In Memory Of Natalie Savva Trophy) which looks a nice race to go for, which then gives them experience for the British Breeders Stakes back at Nottingham.

“Obviously if there’s an Oaks the bitches might go for that, but these British-bred competitions have been excellent and give us a chance and the British Bred Derby at Sheffield in December is certainly another option.”

Bred out of his prolific-winning bitch Acomb Ruby, herself a daughter of another of Ferguson’s winning open racers Ring Ouzel, Acomb Jenny has six wins on the card from 12 starts, having made both A1 and D1 at home track Kinsley.

Four of the litter ran on Thursday at Newcastle, with Acomb Lillian runner-up in the supporting two-run BGBF British Bred Sprint Final to Alnwick Alan (Angela Harrison) and Acomb Winston (28.37sec) an open-race winner over 480m.

Liz Mort, the BGBF chair, said: “What a fantastic evening at Newcastle, a real showcase for British breeding, and a great success for Kevin Ferguson and his Acomb home-breds.

“Acomb Jenny’s win in the Northern Maiden was class, completing an unbeaten run through the competition for her, and showing once again how much talent Kevin’s litter by  Hiya Butt out of his own Acomb Ruby has.

“They were well represented on the night, landing a double and a second in the sprint final – and it was lovely to see Kevin’s daughter Eleanor playing a big part at the track, too!  Congratulations to them for a great breeding/training performance.

“I was good to see some different names involved in this competition at Newcastle and shows a real depth to British breeding now. I’d like to thank Ian Walton and his team at Newcastle for the way they ran the whole event with two well-supported competitions and additional British-bred opens on finals night – it became a real festival of British breeding and was great to see.

“Congratulations, too, to Angela Harrison for Alnwick Alan’s win in the BGBF Sprint Final. This talented son of Blackstone Gene was bred by Angela and is owned by Paul Kendall’s Jeff Stelling Fan Club syndicate, owners of the dam Droopys Aliyah.

“Angela told me she kept him especially for this competition, as sprint opportunities have been hard to come by this year.

“The supporting races showed real quality, too, and some new faces in BGBF competitions. Robert McCarthy’s Glengiblin Tommy, bred by Ray Thompson at Nenthead in Cumbria, won division one of the BGBF British Bred Maiden, while division two went to Stuart Ray’s Abitofa Mistral, bred by his wife, local vet Helen Ray. The winner is by Farloe Blitz out of their home-bred A Bit Of Glory.

“On behalf of the BGBF, I’d like to thank everyone who took part this week – both at Harlow and Newcastle – whether your dog was placed or not! We are intending to build on these events next year – when hopefully we’re all there to watch again!”

Results: www.gbgb.org.uk/meeting/?meetingId=366971&raceId=680961