SLICK SENTINEL continued trainer owner Keith Allsop’s love affair with Towcester when landing the Genco Group Juvenile Classic for Patrick Janssens’ team.

Allsop, part-owner of Janssens’ 2021 Star Sports/TRC English Derby champion Thorn Falcon who had also won the KAB Maiden Derby that year, was on hand at the Northamptonshire venue to see his runner being rewarded for his consistency with victory in the £5,000-to-the-winner Category Two, which had a new sponsor this year.

The Genco Group, the company owned by Jack Russell, an owner with Maxine Locke – the pair had a finalist at Towcester with Droopys Pivotel – stepped in to back the 500m competition won in 2023 by subsequent Greyhound of the Year Droopys Clue. It meant the winner of the Category Two event had a hard act to follow!

Second to Wicky Ned in the Genco Group Puppy Invitation on Star Sports/TRC English Derby Final night, Slick Sentinel also franked the form of that particular race. He landed his own major final, just a few days after Jimmy Fenwick’s Wicky Ned had won the Time Greyhound Nutrition Northern Flat Final at Newcastle.

Sent off an 11-2 chance in a race in which Irish raider Syd Zafiro (Paul Matthews) was a red-hot favourite, the well-drawn Slick Sentinel made the best start of his career outside and was soon in command and took full advantage of his rivals crowding in behind as they jostled for position to take a decent lead down the back.

Syd Zafiro kept on well once in the clear, but there was no catching Slick Sentinel who was on his way to a two and three-quarter length success over that rival and third-placed Droopys Extragud (Heather Dimmock) in a quick 28.77sec (+20).

It proved a good day all round for the winning kennel as the Patrick Janssens-trained Barntick Bear, a winner over 712m at Towcester on Derby final night, dropped down in trip to set a new track record in the very next race, blasting to a runaway 13 and a half lengths success in 28.52sec (+20), the best ever for the 500m at the Northamptonshire venue.

However, the day belonged to Slick Sentinel with the 36-kilo August 2022 son of Droopys Sydney and Droopys Alice, a half-sister of Coral Golden Sprint winner Front Alice, lifting the main event – much to the delight of winning owner Allsop.

He said: “I thought he was brilliant today and I’m delighted for the dog himself – he just never runs a bad race – and Patrick (Janssens) and the team.

“We bought Slick Sentinel off Frank Clune who had bought a dog and a bitch from Johnny Linehan who bred the litter. He arrived at Patrick’s in great condition and has become a real favourite at the kennel.

“He’s been on the go for a few weeks so I’d imagine he’ll be given some time off and then we’ll look at competitions like the (Premier Greyhound Racing) Kent Derby at Central Park and the (Premier Greyhound Racing) Eclipse at Nottingham.”