AAYAMZA ROYALE and Bo Shine Bullet landed Mark Wallis a memorable double in the semi-finals of the Coral Regency at Hove on Saturday.

On a night when the semi-finals of the Regency shared the stage with the Sussex Cup semis and the heats of two other competitions – the Seasons Scaffolding Puppy Cup and the Crawley Trophies Bitches Cup – the six-bend performance of the GBGB Greyhound of the Year in the first semi-final of the Regency wowed a decent crowd at the south coast venue.

This year’s TV Trophy winner trapped better than in the heats and turned the second bend in third place behind joint-favourites Blue Tick George and Kishlawn Shakira – after which this marathon star was always likely to be a threat.

And so it proved as Aayamza Royale, a November 2017 daughter of Ballymac Eske and Ascot Lydia, powered to the front on the run for home to beat Blue Tick George by two and a half lengths in 41.82sec (-15).

The Wallis-trained Regency double was completed by Kent St Leger champion Bo Shine Bullet who was always in charge over the big-race 695m trip, racing to a 14.20sec split time, before crossing the line just over four lengths clear of Samantha West’s Ragtime Arthur in 41.96sec (-15). Bo Shine Bullet will be lining up in her fourth GBGB Category One final at Hove on Saturday.

Commenting on not just the double in the Regency semis but a decent 12-race card for Imperial Kennels as a whole, Wallis said: “It was certainly a fantastic night for the kennel.

“Bo Shine Bullet is pure class and won her Regency semi very well and what more can you say about Aayamza Royale? She was a lot closer to the pace than in the heats the week before and simply just enjoyed herself running past class dogs like Blue Tick George and Kishlawn Shakira. It’s a brilliant final and will take some winning!

“Both Drumcrow Brent and Ivy Hill Skyhigh are two unbelievably consistent dogs who have run in good company all year and deserve to be in the Sussex Cup Final – but it’s also great to have a third finalist in Antigua Storm who has made a Cat One final in only his third race for us. He could well improve again and run a big race – it’s just good to see all three in such a big final.”

The third semi-final went to the Jimmy Fenwick-trained Cold As Ice who will line up as the youngest finalist in Saturday’s £10,000 decider.

Pacing up handily, the Newcastle-based runner led off the second bend and thereafter made the best of his way home, always holding Skiful Daisy (Kevin Hutton) to score by a length and a half from that rival in 42.07sec (-15).

Form and trap draw for Saturday’s final: https://assets.cj1.in/imminent-otter/production/assets/results/Brighton-Hove/form-guides/Sat-31st-July-Finals-Night-Form.pdf