RAVENSWOOD FLO led home Magical Vera for a famous Kevin Hutton-trained one-two in Saturday’s English Oaks Final at Swindon.

A fast start from the red-boxed daughter of Laughil Blake and Ravenswood May soon saw her bowling along in front and the recent Bedfordshire Oaks runner-up went one better as she crossed the line one and a quarter lengths clear of the staying-on Magical Vera in 28.82sec (normal).

Victory in the £15,000 decider, sponsored for the first time by leading owner John Turner, capped a fantastic year on the track for trainer Hutton after Dorotas Wildcat’s Derby success and Argentina’s win last week in the Puppy Derby at Henlow – and he paid special tribute to host track Swindon.

“This is our local track, we trained here for nine years and it’s special to win The Oaks here. I’m a massive fan of the place, so when we qualified the two finalists we knew it was possible to win, but to get the first and second tonight really is the icing on the track. Both bitches have run brilliantly.

“I’m particularly delighted for owner Stephen Harvey. He is a fantastic and loyal owner of mine and the team here, and he’s seen Flo improve from a mid-grader at Towcester to winning a Classic. She recovered well from a sprained hock to go close in the Henlow Oaks, and then just kept on coming forward through this.

“Flo came right at the perfect time for this. She had a chance to nip clear against the fence and that’s what happened. I would imagine that, in time, Vera will be the better bitch, a real prospect, but she’s inexperienced and lightly-raced. She’s terrifically bred of course being a half sister to Magical Bale and a sister of David’s (Jeans) exceptional Magical Icarus.”

For his part, owner Harvey said: “Well done to Kevin and his team, to Donna (Witchells) and Marc (Studer), who paraded Flo tonight and loves her to bits. Kevin is one of those unique trainers who can map out a campaign for a greyhound to produce his or her best in the big races. He is meticulous in his planning.”

Hutton described Ravenswood Flo’s victory as the perfect way to end one of the most eventful years of his professional life.

“I’m not too sure we’ll have another year like it,” he added. “The highs, of course, were the Derby, the Oaks, the Eclipse and the Puppy Derby, but the lows were Towcester closing and the break-in at the kennel. Losing those dogs for that amount of time was as stressful and upsetting as things can get in this game – thankfully all returned.

“We will regroup and look forward. Well done to Swindon for hosting The Oaks and we look forward to returning to defend the title next year. Of course, the Derby being announced as being at Nottingham gives us all a chance to plan, and the aim is to get the Wildcat there to defend his crown, too.”