SLICK SAKINA landed a magnificent seventh victory in a row when completing an unbeaten run through the event in the Premier Greyhound Racing Eclipse Final at Nottingham on Monday.

Trained by Patrick Janssens for Keith Allsop, the July 2020 daughter of Droopys Sydney and Droopys Ring arrived at the Colwick Park venue as the reigning Premier Greyhound Racing Oaks champion after her success at Perry Barr in October – and continued where she left off at the Birmingham track.

Winner of both her heat and semi-final, Slick Sakina lined up as favourite to take the Eclipse decider – albeit in a hugely competitive £20,000-to-the-winner 500m contest. Appropriately, it was a slick exit from the outside box which set things up for her.

However, right from the start Aero Dylan (Arran Dunn) and Distant Podge (Barrie Draper) were on the premises and it was the latter, the Puppy Classic winner, who paced up to narrowly hit the front at the turn, before superb second-bend running saw the always-handy Slick Sakina assume command round the outside of her rival.

Kicking on down the far side, Slick Sakina then had to repel a renewed challenge from Distant Podge at the third bend before going on again to score by two and a half lengths from Bockos Palace (Kevin Boon), who had shown fine middle speed, and staying-on Clairekeith Remy (Carl Gardiner) in third. The winning time was 29.77sec (+30).

The victory delighted winning owner Keith Allsop, albeit he had to watch the action from Nottingham unfold via a FaceTime call from a friend given he is currently in the United States.

He explained: “I was in Texas with my daughter during the race and had to get Billy Brennan to FaceTime the race whilst pulled over in a service station. I had the window down shouting her on like a madman with people looking at me wondering what was wrong – I’m not sure many would have believed me anyway!

“But what can I say? Two massive Category One races in the space of a few weeks, one a Classic, and unbeaten to boot. These are greyhounds that you dream about and I’m a very lucky man to have Sakina,” he said.

Victories for Slick Sakina in both the Premier Greyhound Racing Eclipse Final and Premier Greyhound Racing Oaks followed last year’s success for long-time greyhound owner Allsop as part-owner of Thorn Falcon in the Star Sports English Greyhound Derby.

“So the moral of the story is, if you don’t succeed, keep trying,” he added.

Winning trainer Patrick Janssens was another delighted man, commenting: “Sakina’s just a natural and is a pleasure to train and be around.

“After season she really did turn a corner and has run brilliantly since. That’s seven in a row, unbeaten at Perry Barr and now Nottingham, and tonight she was just so brave.

“She paced up well, cut the bend, and then her back-straight race was just brilliant. She’s a fantastic bitch, will have a rest now, and will be aimed at the major races in 2023.

“Our thanks to Nottingham and the sponsors.”

Results: https://www.gbgb.org.uk/meeting/?meetingId=391886&raceId=895656