Saturday night open round-up

Return Package stars in Pelaw main event

While the Category One action was at Central Park, there was also plenty of open races elsewhere on a busy Saturday evening.

The Alan Dobbin Derby final took centre stage at Star Pelaw and Return Package caused an upset when landing the £1,000 first prize at 14/1.

Owned and trained by Savva Roberts, the outsider of the field paced up well down the middle to turn in front before running away with the big race of the night.

Emilys Superstar gave chase but could only get within five and a quarter lengths of the winner, who crossed the line in 25.54 (+20) for the 435m trip.

Glenn Foot had to settle for second best in the main event but he did have a double on the night, with Tassie Twirl landing a sprint in 14.40 (+15) and Smell The Bucks successful over four bends in 25.80 (+20).

Birtley Hoopstar (14.55) struck for Stuart Tighe in the other two-bend contest on the card, while Paul Miller’s Church St Katie (25.93) led them home in the 435m maiden.

Mossend Max made all (25.51) for George Walker in the Alan Dobbin Derby consolation.

Gala night at Romford

It was opens all the way at Romford where St Kiernan’s GAA staged a gala night and with boosted prize money on a night of valuable one-off races, there were doubles for Paul Burr, Michelle Brown and Dave Lee.

Burr saw his Yahoo Lolls get up late to justify 13/8 favouritism over 400m in 24.50, before popular kennelmate Bacon Roll (7/4fav) got back on the winning trail with a 24.14 success.

Brown’s Pro Parker (6/1) posted the fastest 400m time of the night when making all in 23.84, while Gothic Kitty (11/4) completed the two-timer of the kennel when scoring over 750m in 47.35.

Lee had a pair of 400m winners courtesy of 2/1 favourite New Era Baby (24.24) and 100/30 chance Onetherun Eden (23.93).

Acomb Felix ensured the long journey down from Yorkshire wasn’t a wasted one for Kevin Ferguson when winning well over 400m in 24.06, while the Maxine Locke-trained Razldazl Benetti (24.26) also struck over the standard distance.

The evening started with a sprint victory for Nathan Hunt’s Teaboy Brownie (4/5fav), who landed the odds in 13.42, while Heres Ringo (11/8fav) gave favourite-backers more to cheer about with a 575m success for Glenn Hockings in 35.46.

Ballymac Taylor gained revenge on Alright Patricia for last week’s narrow Dorando defeat when scoring by five and three-quarters lengths from that rival over 9.25m in 58.87.

Hutton doubles up at Oxford

Kevin Hutton picked up two of the three opens at Oxford, with Start The Engine (26.70) and Coppice Ella (26.77) both getting the job done over 450m.

Sandwiched between those Hutton winners, Chamberlain Kate stayed on strongly to win over the same distance in 26.76 for Carol Weatherall.

Locals on the mark at Doncaster 

There were two opens at Doncaster, where the Phil Milner-trained Keefill Dares hacked up over 450m (27.52) and Maximum Calibre (29.70) got on the scoresheet for Kirsty Grayson.