PRINCE OF TROY became the biggest-priced winner in the history of the event when continuing another fine year for his Romford-based trainer David Mullins with victory in the £10,000 Coral Olympic Final (515m) at Hove on Saturday.

Trained by Mullins for owners Kelly Searle and Mick Gollogly, the 25-1 chance was anything but a fluke winner as he paced up into the lead into the first bend and was never headed as he crossed the line three lengths clear of local hopes Seomra Razl (Jason Heath) and Faughan Rebel (Richard Yeates) in 30.21sec (-10).

Winning trainer Mullins, for whom the victory helped him consolidate fourth place in the Trainer of the Year standings, said: “He’s shocked me really, even though I always knew he was capable of doing something like that. He’s a very good dog. We knew he had the pace, but just added some weight to him which has done the trick.”

Part-owner Kelly Searle, owner of top sprinter Shrewd Call, added: “We knew for Prince to have any sort of chance he’d have to lead round the first two bends, but I don’t think any of us were expecting him to do that!

“Mick and I were outside screaming him home and we’re just so proud of him and everyone at Team Mullins for making him the good dog that Prince thinks he is!

“We’ve both owned dogs independently with David for many years and John Paul McQuillan, or ‘Belfast John’ as he’s better known, said that Mick – who’s well-known for the Troy-prefixed dogs – and I should get a dog together as we have a similar outlook. So we talked about it and decided to do it. John found us Prince and now we have two between us, Prince Of Troy and Anastasia.

“The hospitality shown to us by Hove was fantastic and I’d like to thank them for making a memorable night even more enjoyable.”

Daniel Rankin, senior racing manager for Hove and Romford, was delighted how the night panned out and congratulated connections of all the night’s winners.

He said: “It was a really good night and full of quality throughout the card. Prince of Troy was the outsider of the field but was a worthy winner of the Olympic. He trapped out, held off Smurfs Machine to the first bend and pulled away from the field down the back-straight.

“At the start of the year if Dave Mullins was going to win an Olympic at Hove you would have thought it would have been with Tenpin, so with the troubles Tenpin had this year, it was good for the kennel to get that big-race win here.

“For me, Antigua Lava was the performance of the night in winning the George Curtis & Ballyregan Bob Memorial. How she managed to back-run Aayamza Dream was incredible, overcoming a slow start, avoiding the early trouble and then slowly running down the field to pick up her kennelmate – who wasn’t stopping in front.

“It would’ve have been nice for connections had Aayamza Royale won to complete a treble of big staying events here at Hove after her TV Trophy and Regency wins, but she trapped too well and was involved in real trouble at the first bend.

“Lights Out, the Brighton Belle winner, has her own way of doings things but the 515m at Hove really plays to her strengths. The long straights here give here a chance to use her raw pace.

“The race was messy with the runners tightly packed from bends two to three, which allowed Lights Out to come with a run up the inside. Once she hit the front at the third bend there was only going to be one winner.

“Marlfield Glen ran really well to win the Kathleen Kis Memorial Trophy. He showed a lot of early pace and battled hard to grind out a deserved final winner for Seamus Cahill.

“The night itself was a big success and was how a proper open-race night should be with quality open races and big finals through the card.

“The best way to make the sport successful is to have the best greyhounds competing against each other and having festival-type nights at a variety of tracks to showcase how good our sport can be.

“Next year will see the George Curtis & Ballyregan Bob Memorial being run as a Category One event for £10,000 which hopefully will be a big success and certainly match the quality of entry we had this year.

“Lights Out will also have a chance to defend her Coral Brighton Belle title much earlier next year as it will be moving to April and be run as a Category Two worth £5,000 to winner.”

Results: https://www.gbgb.org.uk/meeting/?meetingId=380424&raceId=800173