COOLAVANNY AUNTY and defending champion Coolavanny Bani landed a double for Angela Harrison in the heats of the Arc Grand Prix at Sunderland on Thursday – with the former posting the night’s best in the opener.

Already winner of the Essex Vase at Romford, the long odds-on favourite was soon in command inside and was never headed as she strode clear to win readily by seven lengths from Jetts Moon (Yvonne Bell) and Farneys Calipso (Kevin Boon) in 39.27sec (+30) for the 640m trip.

Kennelmate Coolavanny Bani enjoys her trips to the Wearside circuit and intends to maintain a grip on the trophy judged by a gutsy display in heat four. Always handy, the near-senior took up the running at halfway before holding a strong finish from Farneys Choice (Kevin Boon) by a head in 39.82sec (+30).

Tom Heilbron’s Little Seven qualified in third here and the Newcastle handler was on the mark in heat three with Titan Jim as the two-year-old powered to a four-length victory from Bandicoot Sammy (Ron Grey) and Ballinakill Echo (Stuart Tighe). The winning time was a very decent 39.49sec (+30).

Narcos Dode struck for George Cunningham in heat two, stepping up in distance well. Hitting the front early on, the August 2019 whelp was never headed as he crossed the line two and a quarter lengths clear of Skywalker Forte (Ted Soppitt) and Fatboyz Exile (Tom Heilbron). The winning time was 39.57sec (+30).

The final two heats went to the John Watson-trained Bluejig Royal and Carl Jackson’s Galvarino.

Bluejig Royal finished fast to edge out Chicken Legs (Ken Dobson) and Move Over Joanie (Bill Finley) in heat five, while Galvarino was a strong-running three-and-a-half length winner in heat six over Oh Hokey Pokey (Stuart Tighe) and Aghaburren Charm (Karolyn Blackbird) in 40.20sec (+30).

The 640m event, upgraded to a GBGB Category One competition, was returned to the schedule last year by track owners and sponsors Arc.

Newcastle general manager Ian Walton, who is overseeing the action at sister track Sunderland, said: “I thought the event got off to fantastic start with Coolavanny Aunty putting down a marker for another major success with what was a blistering run in the very first heat for Angela’s (Harrison) team. 

“However, there were lots of cracking runs on the night and it looks like there will be plenty to play for in next Thursday’s semi-finals. It looks especially fascinating given some of the fancied greyhounds are relatively inexperienced over six bends and it could make for a few  surprises.

“It was also good to see Kevin Boon’s southern raiders are both through.”

Results: https://www.gbgb.org.uk/meeting/?meetingId=383909&raceId=830528