LITTERMATES Pocket Lola and Surprising helped Seamus Cahill repeat his efforts of 2020 when landing a double in the heats of the 75th British Bred Two-Year-Old Produce Stakes at Swindon on Thursday.

Last year it was Sharp Darcy and Sharp Judy for the Kent-based handler, this year it was two members of the home-bred June 2019 batch by Droopys Sydney out of Banabane who starred – the pair posting two of the fastest times of the nine heats.

First up was Surprising in the opening heat one as last year’s Puppy Derby champion led at the halfway point to land the odds by nine and a half lengths from Baran Scorpius (Jamie Kingsley) in 28.35sec (normal) for the 476m trip.

However, litter sister Pocket Lola later went quicker – albeit only by one hundredth of a second – in heat nine.

A winner of the British Bred Champion Stakes at Towcester on Derby final night, the Cahills-bred and trained bitch was quickly away and easily justified favouritism, too, as she crossed the line seven and a half lengths clear of Khufu (Richard Rees) in 28.34sec.

Almost matching that time in an earlier heat was the James Gaskin-trained Bernard (Droopys Jet-Forest Natalee, May 2019) who made all the running to win by three and a quarter lengths from Baran Jupiter (Jamie Kingsley) in 28.36sec. The winner is a half-brother of Select Stakes and Monmore Gold Cup champion Signet Ace.

Also impressing timewise on the night was the Patrick Janssens-trained Fabulous Azurra, winning for owner and breeder Dave Firmager in heat six. Soon in command, the

Aug 2019 daughter of Magical Bale and Fabulous Artist crossed the line just over two lengths clear of Pocket Lucy (Seamus Cahill) in 28.46sec.

Other heats were won by Kim Gooding’s Shockwave Onyx (28.62sec), Richard Rees’s Black Edition (28.98sec), Peter Swadden’s Hometown Legacy (29.27sec), Matt Dartnall’s Foolish Ways (28.87sec) and Ray Turney’s The Grafter (29.09sec).

Liz Mort, chair of the British Greyhound Breeders Forum, said: “As ever it was an interesting first round of the Produce Stakes. We have some very good dogs entered, but it’s a great shame that numbers were down this year.

“It’s a valuable competition and I’d have thought it’s worth making the effort to do the paperwork. It’s definitely worth taking the time to do, although it’s clear a lot of breeders just don’t think of entering at the litter stage.

“So often we get calls in the Stud Book office from people saying they don’t think they registered the litter but can they register now?

“It means this year we’re taking a different approach, so now all litters we register at the Stud Book are automatically entered in the Produce Stakes at the litter stage and breeders are being notified of this. Hopefully they’ll take this on and then register their pups at the next stage, which is crucial to end up competing in the event.

“Going back to this year’s heats and some very good dogs came to the fore, but as we know anything can unfold over the next couple of weeks. It was first-four qualifying last night but will get tougher from hereon in. The second round takes place on Wednesday.

“It’s always a fascinating competition to follow through and once again we’ve got good litters from the 2019 batch. Numbers-wise the fact quite a lot of bitches missed will have had an effect – the matings were there, but not all the anticipated litters followed!

“Thanks to Swindon as always for running this event. It isn’t the easiest to organise, but it looks as though we’re going to be seeing some really good British-bred racing over the new couple of weeks.”

Second Round Draw:

Heat 1: 1. Foolish Ways, 2. Surprising, 3. Queen Jay Lo, 4. Trigger Happy(m), 5. Foolish Pride(m), 6. Shes Mine(w)

Heat 2: 1. Sharp Biddy, 2. Baran Jupiter, 3. Blackeyed Teresa, 4. Rays Special(m), 5. Going For Gold(m), 6. Ruff Pursuit(w)

Heat 3: 1. Sharp Sam, 2. Pocket Lucy, 3. Fabulous Azurra(m), 4. Pocket Lola(m), 5. Pocketman Jet(w), 6. Bernard(w)

Heat 4: 1. The Grafter, 2. Baggios Maid, 3. Baran Scorpius(m), 4. Baggios Champ(m), 5. Crossword(w), 6. Khufu(w)

Heat 5: 1. Shockwave Onyx, 2. Sawpit Smokey, 3. Hometown Legacy(m), 4. Vegas Flyer(m), 5. Get On Rosie(w), 6. Black Edition(w)

Heat 6: 1. Baggios Turbo, 2. Tele Lad, 3. Sharp Teddy(m), 4. Leonidas(m), 5. Go On My Girl(w), 6. Shockwave Zircon(w)