Kevin Hutton won all three heats of the BGBF British Bred Puppy Cup on Saturday as Oxford played host to the first Category 1 competition of the year.
Union Blizzard made all to win the first heat with Phil Milner’s Keefill Goose challenging late on to finish second by 3/4 length.
“She has been very unlucky in a couple of A2 races but has shown plenty of ability. So her run today was no surprise although I’m not entirely sure that she knows where to run yet,” explained Hutton.
“One week she ends up tight rails and today she moved off. But, to be fair to them, they are very lightly schooled.
“She’s from a good litter, with her brother Union Rebel running well in defeat today,” he added.
After the race, Phil Milner was exasperated. “I have a severe case of ‘seconditis’ at Oxford,” he told me as he headed off to prepare for Heat 2.
Pro Cooper and Beach Bull qualified for next week’s semi-finals in 3rd and 4th place for David Mullins and Tom Levers respectively.
The second heat saw Milner’s litter sisters Keefill Dares and Keefill Halo drawn alongside each other in the middle boxes and pitted against Kevin Hutton’s [Droopy’s Sydney/Forest Natalee] triplets, Dreamin Bea, Southfield Petal, and Coppice Frank.
Keefill Dares went off slightly odds on (4/5F) and her split today just about justified why. Unfortunately, the blue and white jackets both moved off and caused some crowding that forced her to check. Although she recovered, Milner’s blue was unable to gather enough momentum to challenge for a semi-final place next week.
Hutton’s Dreamin Bea took the honours after leading Tom Lever’s Cowgirl into the first turn and never looking back. Southfield Petal and Coppice Frank took the remaining qualifying spots for Hutton.
Coppice Ella was perhaps the pick of the round today, winning a difficult Heat 3 ahead of Keefill Maverick, Union Rebel, and 4/6Fav, Romeo Cypher.
“I thought Coppice Ella in particular was very impressive,” Hutton enthused.
“They were two very good dogs in front of her today and she showed a lot of heart to go between them at the 3rd bend.
“She’s a lot of improvement left to come.
“The [Droopy’s Sydney/Forest Natalee] litter seem slow burners and won’t really come to hand until they are over 2 years old in my opinion.”
Phil Milner shared his disappointment with Greyhound Weekly regarding Keefill Maverick’s run today. “That was a poor run by his standards,” Milner explained. “We’ll get him checked later.”
Hutton though is delighted to have 6 through to the next round and hopes that the draw works out well for his pups. Milner, Mullins and Levers take two each into next weeks semis.
When asked about the British bred scene, Hutton was typically upbeat. “Numerically, the British bred scene is a little behind where we all want it but quality wise it’s probably as good as ever.
“Rab has obviously shown the way over the last few weeks with his homebreds and they’ll be major players in the big races this year.
“We’d be hopeful of breeding another couple of litters this year ourselves.”
