RICHARD REES took the training honours as the Premier Greyhound Racing Kent Derby kicked off at Central Park on Sunday.

 

Hove handler Rees landed a double courtesy of Burnchurch Mick and Hilight Arkle as six heats of the £20,000-to-the-winner competition, the first time the GBGB Category One event has been staged under the Premier Greyhound Racing banner, took centre-stage over 480m at the Sittingbourne venue.

 

First up was Ladbrokes Winter Derby winner Burnchurch Mick (Laughil Blake-Blackstone Angie, May 19) who was quickly away in heat two on his way to a rapid 3.14sec split before holding the running-on Clairkeith Remy (Claude Gardiner) by half a length in 29.13sec (-10). Romeo Top Gun (Patrick Janssens) was third here.

 

Hilight Arkle also scored a trap-to-line victory in landing the Rees double in heat four as the January 2019 son of Good News and Fiftyshadesnifty was soon in command, eventually coming home a length clear of Iso Fantastic (Barry O’Sullivan) and Amaze Me More, another Rees-trained runner, in 29.57sec (-10).

 

Fastest time of the round was set by Liz McNair’s Havana Bale Out in heat three as the strong-running April 2020 daughter of Magical Bale and Comeout To Play was soon handy after a smart exit and, leading at the bend, drew steadily clear to win by four and three-quarter lengths from Billis Tudor (Mark Wallis) and Burgess Glengar (Katie O’Flaherty).

 

The winning time was 28.81sec (-10) which set the standard on the night and followed track records set by McNair runners at Oxford, Romford and Towcester – and the victory delighted Rab McNair, husband of trainer Liz.

 

He said: “Bale Out needs a stiff four bends and Central Park suits her, as does Hove. She’s got form over further so over this sort of distance needs a test. She just needs to make sure she’s careful when cutting the bend, which did for her the previous week there and at Romford in the Champion Stakes.

 

“But when she’s got room to run, we know what she can do. Look at the times she’s clocked and remember she wasn’t far off winning the Sussex Cup (third to Ninja Kerry and Warzone Tom) so fingers crossed for the semi-finals now.

 

“I couldn’t be happier with the team. The track records are great, of course, but it’s giving ourselves a chance in these major events which is what we enjoy doing. There’s highs and lows in the game, so we’re not getting carried away and are just doing our jobs.”

 

The Mark Wallis-trained BresBet East Anglian Derby winner Hopes Paddington opened the event with a heat one victory in 28.98sec (-10) over Global Vision (Seamus Cahill) and Annadown King (Mark Wallis), while Chelms Jet was an impressive and fast winner for the Gemma Evans team in heat five as he made all in 28.86sec (-10).

 

The qualifiers here were Aayamza Magic (Mark Wallis) and Feora Noel (Liz McNair), while the final heat saw Lizs Legacy (pictured) save the best start for last as a fastest-of-the-night 3.13sec sectional set up three-quarters of a length success over the always-prominent M Lambe Birmingham Cup winner Ivanexile (Matt Dartnall) and Arkady (David Mullins).

 

Trap draw for Sunday’s semi-finals: https://www.centralparkstadium.co.uk/assets/uploaded/files/documents/sunday-23rd-october-advanced-card.pdf

 

Results: https://www.gbgb.org.uk/meeting/?meetingId=390121&raceId=881638