FORTANACH COL added his name to a unique roll of honour when winning Sunday’s Time Greyhound Nutrition 3 Steps To Victory Final at Sheffield.

The competition is the only one in which three distances are used with heats over 480m, the semi-finals over 500m and the £10,000 final over 660m – and the well-bred August 2023 son of Ballymac Best and Ballymac Minton came out on top to land a special victory for Nottingham trainer Kelly Wilton.

Kelly took over the licence from her late father Colin in December. Colin was one of the most popular trainers around and his passing was felt throughout the sport, as Nottingham general manager David Evans explained.

“Colin’s passing was a huge shock to us all and he’s much missed,” said Evans. “He was a great and hugely popular trainer – but most importantly a lovely man.

“It was understandably hard for the family, especially in those initial weeks, but Kelly always had the ambition of taking over from Colin – and Colin talked about handing over the reins to his daughter at some point.

“Obviously it wasn’t how the family wanted things to unfold, but we gave Kelly our full support in the transition and she has been brilliant – as have all the team.

“That they’ve now won a Category One event is just testament to their hard work and we at Nottingham are all delighted for them.”

Formerly known as Ballymac Tibet and bought by new owners Gary Armstrong and Jenni Dykes from breeder and trainer Liam Dowling after being knocked out of the English Derby at Towcester, he was renamed with Colin Wilton very much in mind.

Sunday’s final, in which Fortanach Col caught longtime leader Goldcash Warrior (Nathan Hunt) on the run for home for a length success in 39.38sec (normal) for the 660m trip, was just his fourth for new connections.

His Irish career included finishing third in the Kingdom Derby at Tralee to litter brother Solo And Go.