A lifetime wish came true at Dunstall Park Greyhound Stadium on Friday night as Butlers Lane scooped the £20,000 Premier Greyhound Racing Oaks for veteran trainer Barry Denby.
The Sutton-in-Ashfield handler has dreamt of winning the Oaks since he was a child, and accomplished his dream only days before his 71st birthday as Dunstall Park held its first major greyhound racing event since opening in September.
Hundreds of racegoers were trackside as Butlers Lane broke evenly with eventual runner-up Kilwest Diva before she put a length between her closest rival down the backstraight.
A run up the inside into turn three for eventual third Raebella Bullet was blocked, paving the way for Barry to win his first Category One competition and spark jubilant scenes trackside from his team.
Dream come true
Not wishing to jinx his star hound’s unbeaten run in the competition, Barry watched the race at home – leaving the responsibility of trapping to kennel hand Trevor Jeanes.
He said: “It’s amazing. Barry has wanted to win this race for a long time, I’m so glad that dream has come true for him.
“We were just hoping she’d keep qualifying each week and not much more, to win all four rounds is genuinely unbelievable – what a bitch.
“She’s taken to the track like a dream. She has fantastic early pace and just keeps going – when she leads, she isn’t caught.
“We’re not sure right now what the plan is, but we’ll have a good chat back home and take things from there.”
Elsewhere on the night
Favourite Fabulous Aria finished fourth while Bridefort Lady and Avongate Venus were fifth and sixth respectively.
Elsewhere on the night, the £7,500 Arena Racing Company Scurry Gold Cup went the way of Richard Rees’ superstar sprinter Shadow Storm, who bagged a third Category Two triumph on the bounce.
The July ’23 son of Kilara Jessie has been beaten only twice in her eight career starts for owner Marc White, who’s also chairman of National League South club Dorking Wanderers FC.
He said: “When sprinters stick their neck out because they want to win, it’s great.
“That’s three competition wins out of three, he’s a special dog and full credit to Charlie (Rees) for finding him. He was devastated when we lost last week’s semi-final but I was confident he wouldn’t fluff his lines tonight and he didn’t.”
Track records broken
Two track records were broken in other races on the night too.
Patrick Janssens’ Romeo Empire clocked 39.31 over the track’s 660m trip in the Arena Racing Company Stayers while a race later Pain Barrier lowered the 480m record when winning the £1,000 PGR Standard Trophy Final in 27.80.
Greyhound racing continues at Dunstall Park Greyhound Stadium every Friday night for the remainder of 2025.
Racing begins at 6.15pm, with all packages available to book online via www.dunstallpark-greyhounds.co.uk.
READ MORE: Butlers Lane can make veteran trainer’s dream come true in Premier Greyhound Racing Oaks final
