TASHADE made it five wins on the spin when repeating her heat success with an all-the-way victory in the Brinkleys Poet At Stud Young Guns Final at Sheffield on Saturday.

The £3,000 two-run contest was one of three finals staged at the Owlerton Stadium at the weekend on BresBet Steel City Cup Final night and it was the January 2020 daughter of Dorotas Wildcat and El Nora who struck gold in the competition sponsored by leading owners Nic and Amanda Jeal and named after their former champion.

Breaking smartly and making the most of the inside slot, the Paul Sallis-trained and Gary Hicks and Martin Langley-owned youngster soon had her rivals under pressure in behind and the 12-1 chance was not for stopping in front as she crossed the line three-quarters of a length in front of Ted Soppitt’s Skywalker Stan in 27.59sec (+20).

Victory for the Monmore raider denied Newcastle trainer Soppitt a second victory in the competition after last year’s one-two for the kennel. However, success in the GBGB Category Two feature delighted Tashade’s owners Gary Hicks and Martin Langley.

Hicks said: “I always thought she had a chance to get away on the draw. An early pace railer at Sheffield has always been attractive to me and, once she got away to a 3.07 sectional, not many were going to beat her on Saturday – and so it proved.

“Tashade was one of a litter of four out of El Nora and has been expertly handled by Paul (Sallis) and Esther (Driver) – and it’s great for us and them to have this Category Two competition – and I’d like to thank Nic and Amanda Jeal for backing the competition which is proving a cracking puppy event.

“I actually have a connection with Nic as we both bought pups out of Brinkleys Poet’s dam Kilara Lizzie.

“On a general note, I’d like to congratulate Sheffield itself. Saturday there reminded me very much of the old Racing Post Festival nights at Walthamstow with a really knowledgeable doggy crowd creating a carnival atmosphere. There were lots of competition finals and opens.

“The food is the restaurant was exceptional and I’d also like to praise the Steel City Cup sponsors BresBet. They’re a local firm, greyhound racing people as we know, creating a book based on their knowledge and opinion – and that is a breath of fresh air especially for us owners.

“I had backed Tashade with them last week at 9-1 when the draw for the final was made. I also backed her at 12-1 on course and this only happens when a company has an opinion – although I suspect the price was based upon Angela Harrison’s team going for a five-timer! They were having some night up until our Tashade struck.”

Results: https://www.gbgb.org.uk/meeting/?meetingId=378828&raceId=786502