FIRE AND ICE made his rivals see red when taking advantage of a plum inside draw to land the Coral Romford Puppy Cup Final.

Trained by Matt Dartnall for Jonathan Deane, the October 2022 son of Ballymac Cashout and Ballymac Cams, bred by English Derby-winning trainer and breeder Liam Dowling, was unraced in Ireland but quickly made an impression with some impressive front-running efforts and successes at Hove.

Later a semi-finalist behind March On Freddie in the Puppy Classic at Nottingham, Dartnall’s youngster had been ante-post favourite for the Romford contest, although had to avenge a semi-final defeat by Untold Rufiyaa (Tom Heilbron) before taking down the £10,000 Category One prize and title.

Quickly away from a better pitch than in the semi-finals – he had been caught by the Newcastle raider in the semis after pacing up from a midfield slot – Fire And Ice now had the run of the race and set a lively tempo inside and took full advantage as Untold Rufiyaa missed the start and again had to be play catch-up.

Clear down the far side, the Dartnall runner was on his way to a three and a half length success over Untold Rufiyaa, who recovered well to move into second down the back. The winning time was 23.84sec (normal) for the 400m trip, with Gingers Prince (Patrick Browne) crossing the line in third.

A delighted Matt Dartnall, a new name on the Puppy Cup roll of honour after David Mullins’ run of four straight wins, has suggested a crack at the Arena Racing Company Scurry Gold Cup could be on the cards.

“He’s an October, so it’s all-aged for him now – and that’s always a big step,” he said. “But Perry Barr seems the way to go – although Romford’s (Coral) Silver Standard was an option. He’s got lots of speed and we’ll look to get him up there for a spin round.

“It’s just great to win for Jonathan (Deane) who’s pretty new to the sport and has got a really nice dog to enjoy. I actually thought Ice ran a great race in the semis, running his race to get to the front from trap four. It was more straightforward from the inside come the final, but they’ve still got to do it.

“I’d like to thank the sponsors and Romford for their hospitality. As ever we were well look after and it was a top night all-round.”

Romford’s Puppy Cup card closed with a match race between Tom Heilbron’s Links Maverick and Patrick Janssens’ Not So Slow.

Victory in the one-off head-to-head – sponsored by leading owner Patrick Huckle’s GB Skips Hire company – saw multiple Category One winner Links Maverick return to winning ways as a fast start saw him lead home his only rival by three and a quarter lengths in a rapid-fire 23.61sec (normal) for the 400m distance.

Results: https://www.gbgb.org.uk/meeting/?meetingId=417897&raceId=1072967