ROMEO COMMAND was flawless once again as he duly completed an unbeaten run through the BGBF British Breeders Stakes with victory in the £12,500 final at Nottingham on Monday.

 

Making it nine straight wins for the Patrick Janssens-trained January 2021 son of Dorotas Wildcat and Drive On Betsy in an unblemished career, the RPGTV Juvenile at Towcester is the next target for the two-year-old, yet to be beaten in an impressive career to date, and very much a Derby contender.

 

Lining up from the inside-box in the 500m decider at the Colwick Park venue, Romeo Command broke with his field and held a narrow advantage into the bend from Acomb Alfie (Nigel Saunders), before riding a bump and leading off the turn and stretching on down the far side.

 

Thereafter, the Dave Firmager-owned and bred runner was always in command in the Category One for British-breds as he went on to land a five-and-a-half length success over runner-up Jaffa (John Mullins) and third-placed Singalong Java (Kevin Hutton) in 29.86sec (+10).

 

Also staged on the night was the final of the BGBF British Bred Midlands Sprint Trophy which went to the Scott Horner-owned, bred and trained Hometown Tilly. The winner, a June 2020 daughter of King Elvis and Rangefield Sally, edged out Keefill George (Phil Milner) by a head in 18.07sec (+10) for the 305m trip.

 

Liz Mort, chair of the British Greyhound Breeders Forum (BGBF), said: “What a great evening’s racing we saw at Nottingham on Monday. Two BGBF British-bred finals – the Midlands Sprint and, of course, our Breeders Stakes.

 

“What more can you say about Breeders Stakes winner Romeo Command? He is turning into a very special dog who has landed a Cat One competition, whilst making it nine out of nine since arriving from Graham and Nicky Holland in August. He very much has the look of another Derby dog for David and Nicola Firmager and Patrick Janssens, who I know rates him very highly indeed.

 

“Romeo Command’s dam Drive On Betsy is a Fernando Bale bitch out of Ballymac Salpa, an open-race winner and litter sister of Burgess Honey who won the Cesarewitch in 2019.

 

“Drive On Betsy is proving to be a very good dam. Her first litter by Droopys Sydney included Romeo Top Gun and Fabulous Twirl, while Romeo Command is from her second litter, whelped in Jan 2021, and she has a third batch by the Superman son Kilty Lad which we’ll hopefully be seeing on the tracks before very long.

 

“As for Romeo Command, I’m really looking forward to seeing him run again, possibly in the RPGTV Juvenile in a couple of weeks, but then definitely in the Derby.

 

“Congratulations also to the other five finalists. John Mullins’ home-bred Jaffa, another very good dog, gave Romeo Command work to do at the third bend and finished second. He’s still a puppy, an April 2021 son of Ballymac Inspeed out of Rackethall Jess, and has already clocked up seven good wins including in the heats at Nottingham.

 

 

“Kevin Hutton’s Singalong Java, bred by Kev and owned by Gilbert Anderson, took third.  Carol Weatherall’s No Rush, Jill Llewellin’s Blythe Blaze and Acomb Alfie, coming from Nigel Saunders’ kennel while owner/breeder Kevin Ferguson is in Australia, completed the line-up. All ran well and it was an exciting race.

 

“Our other final, the Category Three BGBF British Bred Midlands Sprint Trophy, produced something of a surprise when going the way of the blue King Elvis bitch, Hometown Tilly, who is bred, owned and trained by Scott Horner from Kinsley – who thoroughly deserved the win. Phil Milner’s Keefill George was a fast-finishing second, with David Mullins’ Think Again in third. Our congratulations to them and the other finalists.

 

“Thanks again to the team at Nottingham for an excellent evening and for hosting the two BGBF competitions again. Also thanks to Arc who are always supportive of British breeding and our BGBF competitions.”

 

Results: https://www.gbgb.org.uk/meeting/?meetingId=395232&raceId=923519