LONG FELLOW brought together the worlds of horse and greyhound racing when landing a popular victory in the RPGTV Cowley Puppy Collar Final at Oxford on Friday.

Named after the late, great Lester Piggott and owned by the Horse And Hound Six Syndicate, which includes Desert Orchid’s jockey Colin Brown and a Cheltenham-winning point-to-point trainer in Lucy King, Long Fellow provided Matt Dartnall with a well-deserved GBGB Category One success just weeks before handing the licence back to father Terry.

“It’s the right time to just take stock, spend more time with the family, and give the reins back to TD, although I’ll never be that far away,” said Dartnall jnr. “We just want to bring the numbers down in the kennel, quality over quantity maybe, and to target even more the upper end with the major competitions. We’ve got some very good owners, they understand the situation, and know the kennel is in good hands.”

Of Long Fellow, Dartnall said: “He needed to come away and has done that. We got him from our friend Ben McBride who said he had a good one for us and this dog has progressed really well at Oxford. We just thought this competition would work well for him – and it has. I’m delighted for his team of owners who are nice people.”

George Sell heads the Horse And Hound Six Syndicate which, along with Colin Brown and Lucy King, also includes Chris McBride, Kate Bent and Ray Byrne.

Sell said: “I’ve known Matt and Terry for a good few years – had a dog back in the day with them but had followed the progress of Away Shelley as a racer and then a dam, so when the opportunity came up to have one of her litter we went for it – and took the only dog in the batch from a litter of four. It’s worked out really well and I’m delighted for this group – for many this is their first experience of greyhound racing. It’s a good one!”

A January 2022 son of Droopys Sydney and Away Shelly, Long Fellow made his debut in A2 at Oxford in August and notched a hat-trick of wins the following month before stepping up into open class with a second to King Memphis in an Official RPGTV Cowley Puppy Collar Trial Stakes.

Fast forward to Friday’s £10,000 decider and the 10-1 chance was soon in top gear and, taking advantage of a missed break from Cat Island (Mark Wallis) inside, was soon bossing proceedings inside and crucially turned the first and second bends ahead.

Favourite King Memphis (Liz McNair), who brushed the rail at the first bend, still managed to turn in second and thereafter posed a real threat to the winner and kept on really gamely. However, Long Fellow held his form well and repelled the challenge from King Memphis to cross the line three-quarters of a length in front if that rival with Cat Island recovering well off a slow start to finish third. The winning time was 26.72sec (+10).