Clona Curly timed his first win on UK soil to perfection when landing the Arena Racing Company Northern Puppy Derby for trainer Diane Henry at Newcastle Stadium on Thursday.
The April ’22 dog beat Maxine Locke’s Droopys Eunice to the line to scoop the £12,500 prize and record an eye-catching three-and-one-quarter length victory in 28.23 seconds – the competition’s fastest time.
It marked the first Category One success for trainer Diane since her remarkable double in November 2022 where she won both the Ladbrokes Gold Collar and Ladbrokes Cesarewitch at Crayford with Savana Ruinart and Savana Volcano respectively.
Clona Curly’s owner Kevin Boothby was thrilled with his greyhound’s performance, and confirmed the Premier Greyhound Racing Puppy Cup is the next target, followed by a possible entry in the Derby.
“We’re really chuffed with the result,” said Kevin. “It was a tremendous final, and all greyhounds were there on merit.
“He’s recorded a great time and we’re very fortunate to own him. He hadn’t raced since November before this competition started and keeping him fresh has clearly worked for us.
“He’s improved again and again as the competition progressed and the pace he displayed in Ireland which really excited us has translated over here. It’s hard to win Category One competitions, so credit to Diane for a great training performance and to Newcastle for putting on the event.”
Behind runner-up Droopys Eunice was Kevin Hutton’s Coppice Ella while Droopys Display finished fourth. The north-east pair Omuircheartaigh and Coppice Saphire finished fifth and sixth respectively.
Elsewhere on the card there was an Open Race double for Ashington’s Jimmy Fenwick who won the Arena Racing Company Bitches and Arena Racing Company Stayers with Coppice Gracie and Coppice Kaiser respectively.
Newcastle’s Raymond Hale was also on the winners’ podium with Swift Josh, who won his sixth race at Newcastle having made his debut at A4 grade in November.
The venue’s weekly racing schedule resumes this afternoon (Friday) and Saturday with two 12-race graded fixtures due to start at 2.04pm. Tickets can be purchased via www.newcastle-greyhounds.co.uk.
