BALLYDOYLE RAZOR opened his account when it mattered most to win the RPGTV Puppy Trophy Final at Nottingham on Saturday.

A GBGB Category Two event – one of a host of finals on Star Sports & Arc Derby Final night – the Phil Barlow-trained Sheffield raider had finished second to Antigua Bruiser in the heats, but with that runner subsequently withdrawn, the January 19 son of Kinloch Brae and Fear Emoski faced four other rivals bidding for the £3,000 prize.

Ballymac Fearnot (Kevin Boon) led her rivals from the boxes with a 5.02sec split, but the well-supported Ballydoyle Razor made ground down the back-straight and came through approaching the fourth bend and draw clear to win by three and three-quarter lengths in 30.01sec with One For Gold (Michelle Brown) a further half-length back in third.

A delighted winning trainer Barlow said: “He ran really well and we’re absolutely over the moon with him. Everything went to plan all week and we were really happy coming into race. Daryll Hopper looked over him Tuesday and gave us a few minor things to work on, but apart from that everything was perfect.

“I need to thank Garry Parker and my dad Martin who are kennelhands, but we’re a team really and I couldn’t do all of this without them!

“We’ve had the most amazing month, running at a 39 per cent strike-rate on our graders so this just capped it off – winning on Derby final night is great. We’ve been down to a couple of Derby final nights in the past, gone close and been quite unlucky, but it’s all come right tonight.

“Razor’s getting better with every run – this was only his fourth start. He’s still green as grass so hopefully has got a big future ahead of him. I’m going to give him a week or two off and then take him for a couple of trials at Towcester for the [Star Sports) Puppy Derby  there in December.”

Ballydoyle Razor is owned by the Close Shave Syndicate and one of its members Dave Jobson was a delighted man afterwards. He told RPGTV: “There’s 11 of us in the syndicate which was put together by Richard Parkin – and we’re all loving it. We thought he’d go well tonight and he showed fantastic back-straight pace.”

The opening puppy contest – the Download The Star Sports App Puppy Trophy – had been won in runaway style by the David Mullins-trained Coral Puppy Cup champion Tenpin, who scored by five a half lengths in 28.67sec for the 480m, much to the delight of the Romford handler who was happy to see him back.

“We had to miss the puppy trophy heats last week because of sickness, but he’s been jumping all week. It was a great run and he could be special on that, he certainly looks to have a bright future,” added Mullins.

Loggies Lito reversed Yarmouth form with Shrewd Call to win the Call Star Sports On 08000 521321 Sprint Trophy, the Simon Harms-trained speedster trapping smartly and racing clear of crowding behind to win from the Kent Silver Salver champion in 17.66sec.

Harms said: “It was a good sprint and had sparked a lot of talk – I just wanted to let this dog do the talking. He ran really well at Yarmouth and just came unstuck at the tight bend there. But we fancied him all week and every time I’ve asked him he’s produced the goods. It’s actually a fantastic litter, too, with a littermate in the Fair Warrior final at Mullingar and a sister in the Oaks at Shelbounre Park.”

Results: www.gbgb.org.uk/meeting/?meetingId=367325&raceId=684712