ROXYS BULLET proved a hugely popular winner of the Coral Essex Vase as trainer Paul Burr ended a 32-year wait for major success with a home-bred victory in the Category One event at a packed Romford.

Having won his rearranged semi-final of the 575m event in front-running style, Roxys Bullet needed a repeat in the £10,000 decider and, much to the delight of dual-attached handler Burr, came out running when it mattered most to race into an early advantage in the final and was never headed – although it was a long way home for the Norfolk-based trainer, who supplies runners to both Yarmouth and Romford.

“It was definitely the longest 35 seconds of my life!” he said. “I actually couldn’t quite believe it when I saw him trap so well. We’ve won Cat Twos before and had something like a dozen Cat One finalists, maybe as many as 15, but just not got over the line. Then Benji (Roxys Bullet) goes and traps like that, which was brilliant, and he’s just so generous and honest in front. He gave it his all to keep John’s dog (Mullins, Aayamza Sydney) at bay.

“He was still in front at the pick-up after running the race of his career, but I’m pretty sure fate played its part,” he added, before revealing that not only was Roxys Bullet’s entry into the Coral Essex Vase a last-minute decision, but a planned trip to see Strictly Come Dancing On Tour had also played its part!

“We’d booked tickets last October to see the show in Glasgow, which happened to be this weekend. We originally planned to travel up on Friday, but by the time the tickets had been  booked for the show the flights had gone, meaning we had to go up first thing Saturday. I said to Penny (Burr, wife and assistant trainer) that maybe it was fate and we’d be winning the Essex Vase the night before – although didn’t really believe it!

“Having said that, even entering Benji may not have happened had fate not intervened. We only put him after Mark (Arkell, Romford racing manager) said they wanted one or two more entries and had been phoning round. Roxys Bullet had been going well at Yarmouth and was probably upgradeable there, so I asked Geoff Miller (husband of Roxys Bullet’s part-owner Christine) if he thought it was a good idea to go to Romford. He left it to me – and Benji was the last greyhound entered!”

Burr, who first had a kennelhand’s licence with his uncle Godfrey Godden in the early 1990s before joining Ray Pleasants, branched out as a trainer in his own right about 15 years ago – Godden, incidentally, is still a kennelhand with Burr. A regular visitor to Romford before accepting their offer of a dual attachment, it was the home-bred Roxys Bullet, an April 2021 son of Eden The Kid out of the Burr’s former racer Roxys Lass, who secured his first Category One triumph.

“We’ve watched him and the rest of the litter grow up – all our owners have. That’s why myself and Penny, who owns him along with Christine Miller, wanted as many owners as we could to join us at the presentation. They were there in the first place cheering Benji on, of course, but this time there was a happy ending in a Cat One and it’s just fantastic for all of us at the kennel – even if Penny lost her voice cheering him on!

“Many thanks to the sponsors and to Karen McMillan (stadium manager) and all her team at Romford Stadium for making it possible.”

For the record, 12-1 chance Roxys Bullet made all the running off the back of a 13.52sec sectional to score by a length and a quarter from Aayamza Sydney (John Mullins) in a winning time of 35.28sec (normal) for the 575m trip at the Essex venue. Katie O’Flaherty’s recent arrival Singalong Stacey crossed the line in third, just ahead of Romeo Hotshot (David Mullins) in fourth. The winner will now be aimed at the Peter Bussey Memorial Trophy over 540m at Crayford.