SANTAS AMIGO completed a fantastic end to the year for connections when winning the Premier Greyhound Racing All England Cup at Newcastle.

Having already won the Arena Racing Company Classic at Sunderland a few weeks before, the September 2023 son of Ballymac Best and Santas Jet became the first greyhound to win both events – a notable achievement given the contours of both circuits, said Newcastle general manager Ian Walton.

“They are like chalk and cheese, Sunderland and Newcastle,” said Walton. “So for David (Mullins) to produce Santas Amigo like he has is credit to him and the team.”

Mullins himself added: “I knew he was always a dog with plenty of speed but who could get home and that sort of dog suits Sunderland. But I think you need more all-round for Newcastle and you see that with a number of dogs when they switch between the tracks, although with one or two exceptions.

“In fact, look how Tom’s (Heilbron) dog (Unanimous Leon) has run both tracks. He was second in both comps last year and made the final again this year in both.

“But I’ll be honest, I sent ‘George’ (Santas Amigo’s kennel name) back up to the north east just to see how good he really was! The Classic is always a good race, but you get more true four-bend types in the All England Cup and this, for me, was his biggest test. Could he keep it going at this level? He did – and he has!

“The (Star Sports & Orchestrate) Derby has to be our number one target but that’s a long way off so maybe it’ll be the (Ladbrokes) Winter Derby or (Arc) Kent Plate at Central Park. Either way, he’s shown himself to be a very good dog now and I’m delighted for the owners who are a good couple of guys.”

Owned by Nadeem Raja and Greg White, Santas Amigo completed a five-timer in the £20,000 final, soon in a pitch and leading into the first bend.  

Thereafter, the Romford tracker pulled clear down the back and on his way to a three-length success over Droopys Bookem in 28.34sec (normal) for the 480m.

The latter, one of three Tom Heilbron-trained finalists, ensured for the second year running – after Unanimous Leon’s exploits last year – the local handler fielded the runner-up, with Ballymac Lake (Jimmy Fenwick) crossing the line in third.

Back-to-back Category One successes will ensure Santas Amigo is in the conversation when it comes to the GBGB Awards in March. In addition to his Newcastle and Sunderland achievements at the back-end of 2025, the Mullins star also reached the final of the JR Racing Juvenile Classic final at Towcester in July.  

Newcastle’s Saturday meeting also saw the final of The Jimmy Wright Future Stars Puppy Trophy (see separate story) with supporting races also remembering the popular local handler and partner of three-time winning All England Cup trainer Angela Harrison.