FEARSOME ENIGMA made it five wins from six career starts in the final of the BGBF British Bred Maiden Derby Final at Newcastle last week.

Bred and trained by John Marriott for owners the Five Alive Syndicate, the November 2021 son of Droopys Jet and Fearsome Diva defied his puppy status to lead home older rivals and claim the £6,000-to-the-winner GBGB Category Two prize, in the process justifying favouritism in the 480m British-bred decider.

Pacing up well from her trap six slot, Fearsome Enigma was able to tack across in the run to the bend and turned in front before racing away to claim a two and three-quarter lengths victory over Mister Joseph (Brian Fairbairn) and Sirdar (Michael Connolly) in 28.55sec (+10), much to the delight of connections of the youngster.

Making the presentation, Liz Mort, chair of the British Greyhound Breeders Forum (BGBF), said: “It was a brilliant run from Fearsome Enigma, who throughly deserved to win.”

Mort added: “This competition goes from strength to strength and, in this November 21 youngster, it has produced another worthy winner. Well done and congratulations to John (Marriott), who bred and trained this pup for his Five Alive Syndicate.

“By Droopys Jet out of John’s homebred Fearsome Diva – an open-race winner at John’s home track Sheffield – Enigma was the youngest in the final but showed exception ability and trackcraft all the way through this ever-popular Cat 2 competition for British-breds.

“It was great to see him progress through the event and we wish him well in his future campaign which will include the Puppy Classic at Nottingham in August. John reckons another of the litter, Fearsome Acton, could be even better. He had a setback early on so has been taken slowly but we could see him at Nottingham as well.

“Dam Fearsome Diva has another litter on the ground, coming up to four months old now, by World Class, so we also look forward to seeing them in due course.

“It was a really good final at Newcastle, so congratulations to all taking part. Special mention has to go to Scottish breeder/trainer Michael Connolly who bred three of the six runners in the final. They placed second, third and fourth – Mister Joseph and Sirdar, from a September 21 batch by Dorotas Wildcat out of his Droopys Tulip, plus Greenwell Elle, a July 21 youngster by Broadstrand Bono out of his Ballycian Bella.

“Many thanks to Newcastle for staging the 2023 BGBF British Bred Maiden Derby. The track received 44 entries which was tremendous but meant a few had to be disappointed not to make the starting line-up, but the track put on three minor British-bred opens, two standards and a sprint, which gave them a second chance on final night.

“The first 480m was won by Jill Sutherst and Glenn Lynas’s Witton Venus in 28.50sec, which proved to be the fastest of the night over four bends – congratulations to them! Venus’s dam Witton Derecho won the BGBF British Bred Northern Plate here in 2019. Their Witton Razl then made all to take the final race on the card in 28.70sec.

“Congratulations also to Kevin Ferguson, who took the BGBF Sprint over 290m with the strong-running Acomb Felix in 17.18sec.

“A very big thank-you to the team at Newcastle, who host this competition brilliantly – and to Arc for their continued support of British breeding. We are looking forward to next year already.”

Result: https://www.gbgb.org.uk/meeting/?meetingId=397549&raceId=942017