KEVIN HUTTON will send out half the field for Sunday’s BGBF Puppy Cup Final (470m) at Towcester after landing a semi-final double in the new Category One competition at the Northamptonshire venue last week.

Supporting the 1st Containers Marathon Trophy heats and the Property 192 Graded Derby Final, the British bred-only pup event had seen Monmore trainer Lee Field dominate the heats the previous week with three members of a Dorotas Wildcat-Snooty Mary, Jan 20 litter, bred by Hutton, and now it was the Towcester handler himself to strike gold.

First up was recent Perry Barr Puppy Stake winner Signet Denver (Magical Bale-Forest Natalee, Jan 20) who overcame a moderate break to pace up and take advantage of crowding among the remainder of his rivals to rail into the lead rounding the first two bends before stretching out to win by almost six lengths in 27.93sec (+20).

Qualifying in behind Signet Denver, and therefore lining up in Sunday’s £6,000 final, were the Shaun Moore-trained Coyote Bear (Ballymac Eske-Aniseed Twist, Nov 19) and Laurence Tuffin’s Romeo Chief (Premier Fantasy-Fabulous Holiday, Nov 19).

The second semi saw Signet Denver’s littermate Sleek By Design also bounce back from defeat in the heats to win in all-the-way fashion by five and a quarter lengths in a quicker 27.68sec (+20) from another member of the litter Moments Of Magic, also trained by Hutton, and Kim Gooding’s Shockwave Amber (Droopys Sydney-Southoe Silver, Dec 19).

Liz Mort, chair of the British Greyhound Breeders Forum, said: “We’re really looking forward to Sunday’s final of our BGBF Puppy Cup. It’s always great to see the young dogs from new litters and breeders.

“The standout litter is definitely Kevin Hutton’s Forest Natalee batch by Magical Bale – three from the litter have made the final from this litter, so congratulations to Kev. Natalee is certainly a great brood. Her previous litter by Droopys Jet included Bernard who was runner-up in the Produce Stakes final last month.

“This litter is the youngest in the line-up on Sunday, being a Jan 2020 litter, so were ineligible for the Produce this year – but could make their mark on that next year!

“Congratulations to the breeders of the other three finalists, too, in Kim Gooding, David Firmager and Shaun Moore – they’ve all provided very good pups here.

“A big thanks to Towcester for hosting this one for us. It’s the first time our Puppy Cup has been a Category One and, as such an important competition for us, we’re delighted with the final being part of a great afternoon’s racing.

“Incidentally, I received some good news for British breeders today from Rab McNair. King Turbo is now back in the UK and standing at stud with Richard Devenish in Cambridgeshire alongside Hiya Butt and the two Roxholme dogs.

“As Rab says, the King has landed!”

Form for Sunday’s final: https://towcester-racecourse.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/FINALS.pdf

Results: https://www.gbgb.org.uk/meeting/?meetingId=378145&raceId=780896