LITTERMATES Haka Carlo and Ballymac Taylor grabbed the headlines along with fastest heat winner Cooladerry Dust as the £20,000 Premier Greyhound Racing Regency kicked off with six heats over 695m at Hove – and the action continues this weekend with three semi-finals sharing the stage with the Coral Sussex Cup qualifier

Both winners on Star Sports/TRC English Greyhound Derby Final night at Towcester a fortnight previously, the pair always looked comfortable in heats one and two respectively.

First up was Haka Carlo, winner of the six-bend Mark Siddall Prime Beef Challenge Trophy Final at Towcester, who reeled in Ower Boy Jomela (June Harvey) approaching the penultimate bend before going away to score by three and a half lengths from Alright Gordy (David Lewis) and Burrows Sapphire (Jason Heath) in 41.84sec (normal)

Less than 20 minutes later another member of the September 2021 Ballymac Anton and Ballymac Merkle litter also landed the spoils as a fast start from Dorando Marathon champion Ballymac Taylor saw her always handy before catching Littlers Nuke (John Mullins) before going on to score by two and a quarter lengths from Magical Luna (Kim Billingham) in 41.82sec (normal).

Posting the fastest six-bend time of the night was the Nathan Hunt-trained Cooladerry Dust, the Coral Coronation Cup second, who was always bossing proceedings outside in heat three before racing away for a three-length win over Bubbly Scorcher (Paul Young), the 4-6 favourite, and Move Over Ogie (Matt Dartnall) in 41.72sec (normal).

Romford and Monmore trainer Hunt later landed a double with his recent intake Riverside Shari following up her Monmore success on UK debut when winning heat six, edging out 4-11 favourite Queen Georgia in the process by a short-head, the latter having to overcome crowding, in 42.27sec (normal). Third here was Hawk (Richie Taberner).

Local runners landed the remaining heats as Belinda Green’s Baywatch Bullet (42.10sec) easily struck in heat four from Beloved Brenda (Jason Heath) and Tromora Rex (John Mullins), before Seamus Cahill’s Lightfoot Falcon (42.16sec) led up and always held sway in heat five before holding 2-7 favourite Coonough Crow (Mark Wallis), who was resolute but crowded out, and Turkish Lira (Belinda Green) by three-quarters of a length.

Rob Abrey, Hove’s racing manager, said: “It was a mixed night for favourite backers in the (Premier Greyhound Racing) Regency heats but in terms of the quality of the semi-finals coming this Saturday we couldn’t really ask for more. They are three fantastic races and places in the £20,000 final the following week will not be easily won.

“Well done to Nathan (Hunt) and his team. Landing a double in any Cat One event is great but fair play given Riverside Shari was having only her second race for the kennel. I was also pleased with how the locals fared in both the Regency and (Coral) Sussex Cup heats. There’s plenty of stories in each and I’d say it was eye-catching to see littermates strike in the Regency in the shape of Haka Carlo and Ballymac Taylor.

“A few people suggested that maybe the trip might be too short for Ballymac Taylor, but remember last year’s winner Space Jet arrived here to win the Regency having won the Dorando Marathon on Derby final night, but she still had the speed to win over six bends – and Taylor has certainly started well in her bid to follow the much-missed Space Jet’s feat.”

Form and trap draw for Saturday’s semi-finals: https://assets.cj1.in/imminent-otter/production/assets/results/Brighton-Hove/form-guides/Sat-20th-July-Form-Adv.pdf