ROMEO CRUSADE landed David Mullins a record sixth victory in the event – and a remarkable and ground-breaking four-in-a-row – with a game and gutsy victory in the £10,000-to-the-winner Coral Romford Puppy Cup Final at Romford on Friday.

Trained by Mullins for owners and breeders David and Nicola Firmager, for whom the Romford handler sent out Romeo Hotshot to beat Romeo Mission 12 months ago for a memorable one-two, history almost repeated itself for the owner-trainer combination as Romeo Crusade and litter brother Romeo Cypher broke in front in the £10,000 decider.

The latter had impressed in winning his heat and semi-final and both youngsters – from a February 2022 bitch by Droopys Sydney out of Fabulous Skylar – were having just their third races in the final. Into the bend, they were ready to dominate for Mullins again.

Romeo Crusade had trapped in front and paced up into the turn, with Romeo Cypher joining issue at the bend as the Mullins pair looked to dominate. However, there was a coming together between the duo and, while Romeo Cypher had to check his stride and lost momentum, Romeo Crusade went on and was on his way to a famous victory for the Wickford-based handler.

Coolavanny Mercy (Angela Harrison), who had been bumped and crowded after racing strongly into the turn after a slower start, moved into contention with a superb burst of pace off the second bend but could not get close enough to launch a serious challenge, albeit kept on well to push the winner close as Romeo Crusade crossed the line three-quarters of a length in front in 23.94sec (+20) for the 400m trip.

Newcastle-based Coolavanny Mercy therefore finished second, with Romeo Cypher providing a first-third for David Mullins after a first-second in 2022 – victory adding to previous wins in the Coral Romford Puppy Cup for Living Jewel (2003), Vamoose (2004), Tenpin (2020), Brookside Richie (2001) and Romeo Hotshot (2022), with Romeo Crusade’s victory helping Brookside Kennels to a magnificent four Puppy Cup wins in a row.

“That’s special, very special for the kennel,” said Mullins. “We always knew the litter was good and had loads of potential – Dave and Nicola (Firmager) do such an amazing job as breeders as we all know – but they were still young, the two youngest in the final, and were having just their third races in the final. I always say it takes six races to get fully race-fit – and they’ve finished first and third in a Puppy Cup which ain’t bad!

“In fact, it was pretty emotional. We work hard – Julie (wife and assistant) and Kelly (Gutteridge, kennelhand) especially with the pups – so nights like this are always special, and there’s something special about the Puppy Cup for us, of course.

“We always knew our two needed to come out. In fact, we thought if we could get Romeo Crusade out he might hold up Coolavanny Mercy into the bend – and give Cypher every chance of winning. That almost worked! Instead Crusade’s run a blinder off the front and wasn’t going to be denied. We couldn’t be happier and, once again, thanks go to Dave and Nicola Firmager for sending the pups to us.

“Cypher might be a Derby dog next year, so too Romeo Crossfire, another member of the litter. But they’ve all got real potential and, right from the start when they were posting such good clocks in trials, we knew they were a very nice bunch.

“In many ways, it’s been quite a tough last 12 months. A few of our older runners headed into retirement and we’ve taken in a lot of new dogs – many young and inexperienced, so it’s been like a changing of the guard. They’ve done us proud and hopefully there’s more to come – I really can’t speak highly enough of them.”

David Mullins also struck in one of the supporting finals as another David Firmager-owned and bred runner Fabulous Bling (34.94sec +20) landed the Quicksilver Final over 575m, while Nathan Hunt and Trinity Greyhounds combined to land the 750m Mitch Millward Marathon Final with all-the-way winner Teds Dexter (46.52sec +40).