BLUEBERRY BULLET continued her fine run of form when posting the fastest time in the heats of the Stadium Bookmakers Hunt Cup at Towcester on Sunday – completing a double for trainer Mark Wallis in the process.

Recently a last-gasp winner of the Mitch Millward Marathon at Romford, the August 2019 daughter of Confident Rankin and Cabra Twister enjoyed a far easier victory in her heat of the 712m event, which has been returned to the GBGB Calendar by Towcester promoter Kevin Boothby in honour of the former Reading competition.

Lining up an odds-on favourite in heat three, Blueberry Bullet was soon in charge after a decent break and raced away for a comfortable victory over Chubbys Dubh (Kevin Hutton) in 43.47sec (-30), the quickest of the round. Kishlawn Shakira (David Mullins) came again to deny Droopys Prunty (Paul Young) for the qualifying spot.

The Wallis double was initiated in heat two by Antigua Lava in extraordinary style as the recent 1st Containers Marathon third came from way back to edge over Salacres Pippy (Peter Harnden) and Lights Out (Kevin Hutton) to land a thrilling success by a short head and the same. The winning time was 43.73sec  (-30).

Antigua Lava’s owner Nic Jeal, who with wife Amanda sponsored Saturday’s Brinkleys Poet At Stud Young Guns event at Sheffield, was delighted with the performance of the February 2019 daughter of Droopys Jet and Volcano at the Northamptonshire venue and is looking to Sunday’s second semi-final – the toughest of the two.

He said: “I thought it was a great performance in the heats and a great race. She got shuffled back at the first bend and we were just hoping she’d qualify when going up the back, but then she took off and it was an amazing finish. Mark has worked wonders with her – I suppose the dilemma is whether we breed from her or keep her in training when she next comes into season!

“As for the semis, she’s got her box which is a massive plus but I honestly think any of the six greyhounds could win. I’m just hoping she follows Night Time Baby round the first two bends and doesn’t find any trouble. Nothing will be finishing better than her so hopefully she qualifies. She can improve 30 spots on her split and, if she does, that should be good enough to qualify.”

Towcester handler Stephen Rayner matched the Wallis feat by winning the other two heats – and with littermates, too.

First up was Night Time Baby in heat one as the November 2018 daughter of Sh Avatar and Nom De Plume came home the stronger to deny Aayamza Dream (Mark Wallis) in a tight finish, the pair clear of third-placed Burgess Elite (John Mullins). The winning time was 44.17sec (-30).

Recent Champion Stakes winner Night Time Danny completed the Rayner and family double in heat four when he, too, powered home best of all to edge out Troy Suzieeq (David Mullins) by a neck. Bubbly Cristal (Paul Young) was third here, making it through to Sunday’s semi-finals. The winning time was 43.98sec (-30).

Trap draw and form for Sunday’s semi-finals: https://towcester-racecourse.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/HCUPSEM.pdf

Results: https://www.gbgb.org.uk/meeting/?meetingId=378886&raceId=787464