Knight and Marchant with doubles at Hove on Thursday

One Slick Jamie makes a successful six-bend debut

A run to the quarter-final stage of the Star Sports/TRC English Greyhound Derby was huge for One Slick Jamie, less than three lengths off a spot in the semis. Paul Marchant's charge made a successful transition to six bends last night, coming home two and a half lengths to the good, in 42.19.  He will need more if he is to make an impression in the likes of the Regency which starts next month but it was a case of job done.

Marchant's other winner came from Soul Choice who had made the second round of the Derby before early trouble saw him knocked out. He and Seamus Cahill's Kelvins Hat had a great battle with just half a length separating them at the line.

The quickest 500m time of the night went to another Derby runner, Newinn Benni. He won the Sussex Cup last July and is in fine fettle for Derek Knight as we tick down to just five weeks until the competition gets underway. 29.11 is the third fastest of the year to this point and he has now won 14 of his 24 Hove starts.

Knight's double was completed by Hometown who stepped out of graded company for the first time. He has won five of his nine starts for the kennel since arriving from Ireland, starting at A4 level.

One of the classier performers on show was June Harvey's Ower Cracker who ran out the winner of a messy 500m contest. 29.32 was indicative of the trouble, with a 29.13 on his card at the end of April. The Limerick 600y track record holder is strong enough to overcome traffic issues and is another who will probably have the Sussex Cup on his agenda. 

There was a quality dual distance final which went to Nathan Hunt's Newinn Oscar. He has won four of his nine career starts and three of his last four so he is starting to show off his talents. Scooby Pacemaker chased him home with Category One finalists Burrows Eclipse and Long Fellow further back so it was a rock-solid field.

A pair of sprints on the card went to Broadway Murty for Sean White and Island Tiny for Belinda Green. The latter was one spot quicker but his 33/1 starting price was considerably different to 1/1 about the 2024 Northamptonshire Sprint champion. 

Minstrels Six was another shock winner on the card for punters at 12/1. He produced a 41.87 run over 695m for Jason Heath, seeing off his 20/1 kennelmate by a short head! Hopefully the kennel had some money on the forecast!

The other open on the night went to Patrick Browne's Coppice Esme. She has won three of her last four starts, an A5, an A3 and then took the step up in class in her stride. Part of the first Tommy Shelby litter born in the UK, she has taken a little longer to find her feet as a February 23 whelp but she is making up for lost time now.

Upcoming Opens

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