WRIGHTY, landing a five-timer in the process, upset the odds when defeating hot favourite Droopys Clue on his way to setting the fastest time in the first semi-final of the Juvenile Classic over 500m at Towcester on Sunday.

Trained by John Mullins for the father and son team John and James Wright – hence the youngster’s name! – the August 2021 son of Out Of Range ASB and Swift Acoustic grabbed fast-starting Chanceme Jack (Mark Wallis) at the second turn before going on to score by three-quarters of a length from the staying-on Coppice Warrior (Kevin Hutton) in 29.29sec (normal).

Droopys Clue (Seamus Cahill) stayed on well after crowding to claim third and a place in Sunday’s £10,000 final, but victory went to Wrighty, whose part-owner James Wright was delighted with the performance of the pup – again.

“That’s five on the spin and we couldn’t be happier,” he said. “He’s the only unbeaten runner in the final and we’re so looking forward to Sunday.

“The dog was recommended to me by Ian Greaves and he’s done so well. He ran well at Kinsley to finish second in the Gymcrack final and looked like he’d stay a bit further so John (Mullins) took him to Romford to win heat and final of a maiden comp over 575m.

“We entered him for the puppy race at Towcester on Derby night which everyone knows didn’t fill, then on to the Juvenile Classic – and so far, so good!”

Greyhound owners for many years, the Wrights are regulars at Yarmouth for the East Anglian Derby and are the new sponsors of the East Anglian Challenge at the seaside track in August, a Category Three warm up to the famous Category One competition in September.

Heats of the 18-runner XL Windows East Anglian Derby Challenge take place over 462m at Yarmouth on Saturday, August 12 with the £1,200 final a week later.

Back to Towcester and Coppice Rocket landed a 25-1 surprise in the second Juvenile Classic semi as the Jimmy Fenwick-trained Newcastle raider unleashed a smart turn of early pace to soon be in command on his way to a two-length success in 29.46sec (normal).

It was a cracking front-running performance from the Tony Brealey-owned son of October 2021 son of Droopys Sydney and Newinn Mimi who took advantage of odds-on favourite New Destiny (Mark Wallis) being held up to make all, albeit the latter recovered strongly to finish second, just ahead of the always-handy Bombay Zero (Paul Young).

All three take their chance in this weekend’s GBGB Category One decider.

Form and trap draw for Sunday’s Juvenile Classic Final: https://towcester-racecourse.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/99999.pdf