MINNIE BULLET has her sights firmly on another GBGB Category One title after clocking the fastest time in the heats of the Premier Greyhound Racing Golden Jacket over 714m at Crayford on Saturday.

The Mark Wallis-trained runner, winner of the Bet365 Puppy Oaks at Towcester last year, was soon in charge in heat one off the back of a 23.28sec sectional and was never headed as the January 2021 daughter of Good News and Moanduff Daisy raced away for a seven-length success over last year’s finalist Burgess Hannah (Tony Gifkins) and Roll On Sydney (Paul Young) in 45.30sec for the 714m trip.

The victory had followed a fastest-of-the-round victory from kennelmate Antigua Sugar in her heat of the Peter Bussey Memorial Trophy to kick-start a decent morning for 13-time champion trainer Mark Wallis, who took in the meeting at the Kent venue on route to the airport for a trip to Ireland for the National Meeting.

“It’s going to be a busy weekend, but it’s a great way to start!” he said. “If she leads, Minnie Bullet is always going to give herself a chance and has run the track. I put her and Antigua Sugar together in a 380m trial and there wasn’t a huge amount between them – and they’ve both run great today.

“We’re more than happy with Minnie Bullet’s draw in the semis. She’s got trap one and, providing she breaks well, would have every chance of leading her field again. Sugar’s got it tougher draw-wise with lots of pace inside her, but if she’s get a chance to run then she’s a class act – and the Peter Bussey is definitely a race we like to target!”

Next quickest in the Premier Greyhound Racing Golden Jacket heats was Low Pressure as Belinda Green’s dog broke in front and never looked in danger as the September 2020 son of Pat C Sabbath and Highview Lauren posted a fastest-of-the-session 23.13sec sectional on her way to an eight and a quarter lengths success over Slapdash Tommy (Nathan Hunt) and defending champion Bellmore Sally (Jimmy Fenwick) in 45.40sec.

Olga, trained by Monmore’s Pat Curtin, followed up her impressive trial stakes win seven days previously when repeating the dose in heat three. Pacing up to lead into the turn, the July 2020 daughter of Jaytee Jet and Slaneyside Sofia kept up the pressure to cross the line six lengths clear of Sweet Talker (Mark Wallis) and Ritzy Flyer (Jim Reynolds) in 45.53sec, much to the delight of his handler.

“We always knew she’d be a decent stayer after winning back-to-back S1s at Monmore last year and, while I wouldn’t quite say at that stage the Golden Jacket was the plan, it just seemed a natural step given she’s still improving. She’s best off the front, or close to it,  and learned a lot from our first visit last month. She’s won well twice since and it’s great for the owners (The Jabber Crew) who like their visits to Crayford – they won the Golden Jacket a few years back with Stardom.”

Matt Dartnall’s Droopys Jungle, last early on, finished best of all to win heat two as the

June 2019 daughter of Laughil Bolt and Droopys Sylvia won going away by five and a quarter lengths from pace-setting Killeacle Amelia (Gemma Davidson) and Yankee Molly (Ricky Holloway). The winning time was 48.84sec.

The  Patrick Janssens-trained Fabulous Lynx, a January 2021 daughter of Dorotas Wildcat and Drive On Betsy, led early on her way to scoring in heat five by a length and three-quarters from Coonough Crow (Mark Wallis), on UK debut, and Urry Up Peejay (Paul Young). The winning time was 46.02sec.

The sixth and final heat saw the Keith Robins-trained Luna Jezabelle reel in longtime leader Aayamza Magic before going on to score by two and a half lengths from Bubbly Cristal (Paul Young) and Droopys Senorita (Carl Gardiner) in 45.81sec.

Results: https://www.gbgb.org.uk/meeting/?meetingId=393713&raceId=911008

Form and trap draw for Saturday’s semis: https://assets.cj1.in/imminent-otter/production/assets/results/Crayford/form-guides/Golden-Jacket-Peter-Bussey-Memorial-Semi-Finals-Form.pdf