CRAFTY SHIVOO is now a big-race winner on both sides of the Irish Sea after winning the bet365 Empress Stakes Final at Towcester on Sunday.

Trained by Mark Wallis for his MWD Partnership with Michelle Connolly and Mike Davis – and, remarkably still a puppy – the October 2021 daughter of Droopys Sydney and Ballymac Sanjose took her UK record to seven wins from eight starts with a gutsy performance in the GBGB Category One decider at the Northamptonshire venue.

Lining up a red-hot favourite to claim the 500m annual as one of three Wallis-trained finalists, the Irish Oaks champion had to dig deep to grab gold.

Led from the boxes by strong-running Minnie Bullet (Mark Wallis) and sandwiched between that rival and Charming Girl (Patrick Janssens) into the turn, Crafty Shivoo paced up to get into contention at the bend, only to be barged by her kennelmate. However, she regained her momentum and hit top gear again down the far side.

However, Minnie Bullet was not stopping and it needed plenty of resolution from the eventual winner to challenge and pass the leader and then withstand a surge from the always-handy Charming Girl before crossing the line a half a length in front in 30.11sec (-20), the slowish time reflecting the nature of the race.

Third-placed Minnie Bullet and fourth-placed Kilara Coco (Nathan Hunt) finished a short-head and the same behind the winner, with close-up Beatties Sparkle (Kim Billingham) and Fabulous Sonique (Mark Wallis) completing the field for what proved a thrilling bet365 Empress Stakes Final – one which winning trainer Wallis was delighted to win.

“That was some race – and I’m not sure any of us knew who was going to win!” he said. “They all seemed to have a chance at one point, but Crafty Shivoo really battled hard to win. She’s been out-and-gone in most of her races for us, but sometimes there are other ways needed to win – and she’s showed exactly that.

“When you think she’s still a puppy and has won an Irish Oaks and now an Empress Stakes that’s pretty special and all roads now lead to Perry Barr for the (Premier Greyhound Racing) Oaks. That’s already looking some event and we’ll have a small team heading there, headed by Crafty Shivoo.

“You always need luck but, of course, the target for her is to win an Irish and English Oaks in the same year. I’m not sure that’s ever been done, but I think as we’ve seen during the Empress Stakes there’s a good crop of bitches around just now.

“It was a pretty good weekend for us. We had Coonough Crow in the St Leger final and, while she really didn’t come away, Seamus’s dog (Droopys Clue) was outstanding – it was actually a pleasure to watch, even though we had one in behind him! But we did get a winner at Perry Barr in Jacktavern Magic, which was great. He deserved that.

“Thanks for bet365 and Pat Cooney, in particular, for their sponsorship of the Empress Stakes. It’s a great competition and brilliant for the MWD Partnership to win it.”