COOLAVANNY AUNTY led home kennelmate Coolavanny Bani for a brilliant Angela Harrison-trained one-two in the Stadium Bookmakers Empress Stakes Final at Towcester on Sunday – on an afternoon and evening of top-class entertainment at the Northamptonshire venue.

On the track the first running of the bitches-only Empress Stakes took centre-stage with a first prize of £12,500 awaiting the winner of this new GBGB Category One event and Newcastle trainer Harrison always looked to have a strong hand, headed by the September 2019 daughter of Droopys Sydney and Yahoo Katie.

Breaking smartly in the 500m decider, crucially ahead of market rival and reigning Oaks champion Ballymac Trend (David Mullins), Coolavanny Aunty was never headed as the two-year-old kept up a furious gallop to win by one-and-a-half lengths from her older kennelmate, who stayed on well to pass Ballymac Trend, in 29.34sec (normal).

Already runner-up in the Puppy Classic at Nottingham before winning for the Harrison camp at the same venue on Trainers’ Judgement Night, Coolavanny Aunty’s performance and that of runner-up Coolavanny Bani delighted Jimmy Wright, partner of the winning Alnwick-based trainer.

He told RPGTV: “Some people thought Aunty had a bad draw in four, but I never agreed. She can come away from any box and that’s what she’s done. I thought she ran really well at Nottingham and has always looked a really nice bitch, although I’m also delighted with Bani. She’s three-and-a-half years old now and still doing great runs.

“I’ll be looking at sending both to Perry Barr for the (Arc) Oaks and will maybe book sprint trial for both on Thursday. That then gives then eight or nine days off before the Oaks starts. When Aunty was sent over I was told she might be an Oaks winner, she’s that good. There’s a long way to go but there’s no doubting her class.”

Sandy Dixon, who runs the Alnwick Greyhound Group, owners of Coolavanny Aunty, added: “Many thanks to Jimmy and Angie for making this happen for us. A syndicate like ours is only as good as the members we’ve got and we’ve been knocking on the door in major events – all down to the hard work of Jimmy, Angie and the team.

“We won a Category Two last year with Droopys Carat (Birmingham Cup) but it’s now great to have won this Cat One which is fantastic given where we’re located. Thank-you to Towcester for making this happen for us.”

Towcester promoter Kevin Boothby said: “Well done to Angela, Jimmy and all the team. That’s some achievement to get the first two home in a Cat One – especially in what was a very classy final. They’re all top-class bitches, but well done to the winner and her owners who made the long trip south from the north-east.

“Overall it was a great day here at Towcester. This was the first ‘Towcester Rocks’ event we’ve staged and it was great to see all four bands here – Scouting For Girls, The Feeling, Hoosiers and Reef. They certainly had the place jumping and bought into what we’re trying to do here at the venue.

“We’ve had music events here before and will be hosting plenty more. We’re learning all the time and things are just getting better and better – and Sunday’s was fantastic. The bands all sounded great and the atmosphere was relaxed – so much so a couple of the lads from Hoosiers did an interview for RPGTV with Darrell (Williams).

“They enjoyed the racing, too, as did everyone who came through the gate. We had a decent crowd because of the racing and the bands and had some fun here. ‘Clarky’ (Dave Clark) was spinning the wheel downstairs trying to give some of my cash away, the weather was great, and all in all it was a very successful day.”

Results: https://www.gbgb.org.uk/meeting/?meetingId=377708&raceId=776818