MOMENTS OF MAGIC sealed more success for Forest Natalee, winner of the Dam of Best British Bred Award at the GBGB Awards in May, when justifying favouritism in the BGBF Truframe British Bred Champion Stakes Final at Towcester on Saturday.

The competition for British-breds is jointly sponsored by Dave Firmager’s company and the British Greyhound Breeders’ Forum, so even before the owner and breeder of Star Sports & TRC English Greyhound Derby champion Romeo Magico celebrated success in the Classic, Firmager was on the presentation podium along with BGBF chair Liz Mort handing the trophy to connections of Moments Of Magic.

Trained by Kevin Hutton for the Westwell Racing Club, a group of owners who enjoyed so much success with the winner’s sire, this January 20 daughter of Magical Bale and Forest Natalee produced a typically strong-running performance in the £3,000 final.

Led from traps by Glatton Gianni (Richard Devenish), Moments Of Magic used the inside pitch to rail into contention down the far side and, to the roar of her supporters, took up the running off the last bend to go on and score by two and a half lengths from Glatton Gianni, with Romeo On Tilt (Patrick Janssens) finishing third for owner and sponsor Firmager. The winning time for the 500m trip was 29.63sec.

Winning trainer Kevin Hutton is also breeder of the hugely successful Magical Bale-Forest Natalee, January 20 litter and was delighted with the performance of Moments Of Magic in the final, one of the major races supporting the main event.

Hutton said: “This litter has been a real dream for us. That’s three Cat One wins for the group and Magic herself remains in such great form. She’s gone through this competition unbeaten and that’s five wins in a row now.

“We gave her two races over 630m at Monmore – and she won the final – but that’s brought her on. She’s very clever and you could see her thinking about going round the outside of the leader, which might not have worked, but she opted to keep her line inside, bided her time, and took her chance well for the victory – she likes Towcester. She won the Puppy Cup here last year and to come back and win this competition is great.”

Liz Mort, chair of the British Greyhound Breeders Forum (BGBF), presented with trophy along with Dave Firmager and congratulated all concerned – and described Towcester on Saturday night as a really special night for British breeding.

On Moments Of Magic, Mort said: “It was an exceptional performance from a really in-form bitch and is yet another major success for Forest Natalee. She absolutely deserved her accolade at the GBGB Awards for her litter’s successes in 2021 – and it’s not going that badly in 2022 either. Well done to Kevin (Hutton), in particular.

“As for David and Nicola Firmager, what can I say other than huge congratulations. Their love and passion for greyhound racing, especially as leading British breeders, has shone through for many years and to win the Greyhound Derby with Romeo Magico is a dream come true and we were all thrilled with what happened on Saturday night.

“We also thank David and Nicola for their support once again of the BGBF Truframe British Bred Champion Stakes. It’s always a fantastic competition and the class and quality this year was particularly high on a brilliant night all-round for greyhound racing – well done  Kevin Boothby and Mick Conneely and all the team at Towcester.”

Results: https://www.gbgb.org.uk/meeting/?meetingId=378502&raceId=783588