ROMEO ATOMIC made it four wins from five career starts with another comfortable success in the first semi-final of the BGBF British Bred Puppy Cup at Oxford on Friday.

The Kevin Hutton-trained April 2021 son of Romeo Recruit and Fabulous Mila was again quickly away and, while perhaps not as impressive as in the heats, was still pretty good as he raced away to score by three and a quarter lengths from the always-handy Dens Benji (Tom Levers) and Shooter Mcgavin, a kennelmate of the winner, in 28.11sec (-40).

The second semi-final saw the John Mullins-trained Jaffa also maintain his unbeaten record in the event when coming through a great battle with Watchall Sid (Carl Jackson).

The eventual winner, a April 21 son of Ballymac Inspeed and Rackethall Jess, was always in a great position off the back of a fast start and, while Watchall Sid paced up well to take up the running off the second bend and went on, Jaffa came again to join issue rounding the last bend before holding his rival by three-quarters of a length in 27.80sec (-40).

Third here and securing a place in Friday’s £10,000 decider was Bathams Dennis (Kim Billingham) – and Oxford racing manager Simon Pearson is anticipating another top-class night’s racing at the Cowley venue after last week’s card also included the first running of the WKH Development Services Diamond Stakes Final.

Pearson said: “First off, it’s once again well done to our trackstaff for ensuring racing could take place. Temperatures have kept low and it’s been tough, but we had some great racing on Friday and it’s clear Romeo Atomic is still the one the beat in the British Bred Puppy Cup Final, even though he didn’t perhaps shine as bright as previous performances.

“You’d still fancy him to finish the job off come Friday, but any mistakes and I’m sure the likes of Jaffa and Watchall Sid will be bang there. They look to be his main dangers.

“And what can you say about the marathon final? What a superb race, even if the result wasn’t what any of us expected, but I suppose that’s the beauty of racing. Fair play to Sean McDonald and Mohican Tara who really took her chance well and is definitely an improving stayer and marathon performer.

“The night actually didn’t start that well for Sean given we unfortunately had to disqualify his Mohican Bernard for deliberate interference in the second round. Again, that’s the ups and downs of racing – but Tara certainly made up for that. Well done to them.

“We’ve another open-race card here on Friday and another Category One in the shape of the BGBF British Bred Puppy Cup. It continues a very busy period for us which I know has gone down well with those at the track and watching on RPGTV.”

Results: https://www.gbgb.org.uk/meeting/?meetingId=393183&raceId=906575

Trap draw for Friday’s final: https://oxford-stadium.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/BGBFBRITISHBREDFINAL.pdf