AAYAMZA SHAZZA will line up in Saturday’s Coral Brighton Belle Final at Hove as the fastest semi-final winner with trainer John Mullins hoping to seal a first victory in the famous bitches-only event.

“We’ve had a few finalists over the years, so it would be nice to win it,” said Mullins after his May 2024 daughter of Ballymac Cooper and Ballymac Wisdom, a finalist in the recent Ladbrokes Puppy Derby at Monmore behind Derby-bound Underground Gold, came through a real test against Premier Greyhound Racing Oaks third Raebella Bullet to not just secure her place in the £10,000 final but head there with every chance.

“Yes, she’s got a chance but we know in these finals it’s about doing things right. She actually ran well at Monmore and probably trapped too well in the final. If you watch it, she stumbled slightly and that cost her. I’m not saying for one minute she’d have beaten Paul’s (Young) dog who a very nice dog, but she’d have been closer and made some sort of race of it – and that’s what hopefully she does on Saturday!

“I was happy with the semis. Actually she also ran well in the heats first time up but definitely improved for the look in the semis. We’re happy with the draw in the final and, if she’s able to run her race, we’ve got a squeak.”

Quickly away and pacing up well in the third semi-final at the weekend, Aayamza Shazza crucially turned the bend in front of favourite Raebella Bullet (Belinda Green) and kept the local hope at bay, although the latter ran on really well to get within half a length of the 30.06sec (normal) winner, the pair now set to do battle again in the 515m feature final on Saturday on a card which also includes the Hove Puppy Cup Final, a Category Two.

Ante-post favourite Strike It Skye extended her winning run to seven with another solid piece of front-running to lead home her rivals in the first semi.

Always handy off a decent start, Mark Wallis’s runner edged ahead of fast-starting Blackstone Opera (Seamus Cahill) and, clear off the second bend, stretched her field out down the far side. However, the latter kept on really well and closed to within a length of the 30.10sec (normal) winner.

That winning time was matched by the Belinda Green-trained Teddie in the second semi-final.

A semi-finalist in this event 12 months ago, Teddie won the Coral Brighton Belle Consolation on final night and has returned from a spell off the track in tip-top style, winning both heat and semi-final in front-running style as she made all to score by four lengths from Alright Twinkle (David Lewis).

*Trap draw for Saturday’s Coral Brighton Belle Final: 1 Teddie, 2 Blackstone Opera, 3 Strike It Skye, 4 Raebella Bullet, 5 Aayamza Shazza (m), 6 Alright Twinkle (w).