Mongys Wild heads into Saturday’s semi-finals of the George Curtis & Ballyregan Bob Memorial at Hove as a red-hot favourite after returning to the track in impressive style in the heats of the famous competition last weekend.

Mark Wallis’s champion, already a four-time Category One winner, is aiming for a fifth major success, and is going head to head on that score in 2025 with kennelmate Proper Heiress who has his own target of a fifth Category One – and a sixth in all – in the Coral Olympic (see separate story) which is staged alongside the 740m event for a huge double header on the south coast.

Mongys Wild reeled in Deadly Disco (Richard Rees) for a strong-running victory in heat four of the six-bend competition to not only set the standard in the stayers’ event on the night but maintain an unbeaten record at Hove. Four starts, four wins.

Already winner of the Premier Greyhound Racing Regency at the Sussex venue, as well as the PGR St Leger, Time TV Trophy and PGR Golden Jacket, Mongys Wild came through strongly to score going away by a length and three-quarters in 44.13sec (normal) having been rested since his St Leger triumph at Nottingham in September, with improvement now expected by connections.

That might concern his rivals for the coveted £10,000 prize, won last year by Mongys Wild’s kenelmate Garfiney Blaze. The latter is back to defend his title, albeit could manage only third in heat two as the Paul Young-trained Bubbly Babs continued her improved form with a solid success, leading off the second bend to score by five and a quarter lengths from Rules For Some (Jason Heath) and Garfiney Blaze.

The winning time was 44.92sec (normal) and, staying on well to qualify, the reigning champion goes again in the semis, as does last year’s runner-up Droopys Flotilla who gained a popular success for Nathan Hunt’s kennel in heat one.

Just caught on the line for the prize last year, Droopys Flotilla again secured an early lead and kept up the gallop all the way to the line for a length success over Yarmouth raider Ballymac Nova (Pamela Cross) in 44.52sec (normal).

Local trainer Belinda Green stepped up Buddys Bullet successfully in heat three as the youngest runner in the event sparkled on his first six-bend test, leading into the first bend and handling the extra metres really well for a five-and-a-quarter-length victory in a slick 44.40sec (normal), crossing the line clear of Cartoonist (Craig Brown).

Commenting on a high-class night of racing at the seaside venue and another busy evening at the track, Hove general manager Lena Birch said: “Congratulations to all our winners on the night, but certainly those in the George Curtis & Ballyregan Bob Memorial and Coral Olympic who have qualified for the semi-finals this weekend.

“We are building up to our busiest period, of course,” she said. “We had a sold-out restaurant on Saturday and, for both true fans of the sport and those with maybe just a passing interest – perhaps even greyhound racing for the very first time in some instances, we had some seriously good greyhounds on show.

“It’s great to see Hove trainers represented in both events and, while we’re naturally biased, we’re hoping they continue to go well. The improvements to the track itself have also been a success. There’s been naturally a settling in period but the trainers’ response to the works has been really positive.”

Trap draw for Saturday’s semi-finals: https://brightonandhovegreyhounds.co.uk/racing/advance/races