Coppice Gracie completed a great – if very busy – 48 hours for Newcastle trainer Jimmy Fenwick by setting the fastest time of the night in the heats of the BGBF British Breeders Stakes at Nottingham on Monday.
Following on from Bellmore Sally’s double win at the GBGB Greyhound of the Year Awards in Brighton on Sunday – the dual Premier Greyhound Racing Golden Jacket winner won both the Racing & Sports Bitch of the Year and SIS Marathon Performer of the Year title – Fenwick was on hand at Nottingham along with wife and assistant Melanie to send out Coppice Gracie to set the standard in heat four of the 500m British-bred annual.
Soon in front outside, the November 2021 daughter of Dorotas Wildcat and Not Too Late piled on the pressure down the far side before crossing the line almost nine lengths clear of Acomb Mabel (Kevin Ferguson) and Tickets Bullet, a kennelmate of the winner, in 29.74sec (+20) for the track’s 500m distance.
Trainer Fenwick, who was back on duty at Newcastle’s morning meeting on Tuesday, said he was delighted with the Tony Brealey-owned runner who made a winning debut in A7 at the Byker venue before racing up the grades to win A1 and open-race contests on home soil.
“Gracie’s made great strides, she really has,” said Fenwick. “We started her out in low grade and she’s just improved up the ranks. She won an A1 then a bitches race on (Arc) Northern Puppy Derby Final night at Newcastle after which we pinpointed the competition at Nottingham – and she went well in a trial.
“Monday’s race was a great run and the time showed that,” he added. “We also had another winner on the night in Coppice Rocket in a sprint, so it certainly made all the travelling worthwhile again – even though I think both myself and Mel are on cloud nine still after Sunday at the Awards.
“We loved it – and it helped with Sally winning her awards – but Brighton as a whole was brilliant. We had a great time visiting and would recommend everyone to make the trip should the Awards be there again. The town, the hotel, the occasion – it was all really, really good.
“We stayed over, drove back up the next morning and met the dogs north of Nottingham before coming back down to the track, then back up to the north-east. We got back after 1am and then I was at Newcastle about 8.30am. I think you call that dedication!”
The BGBF British Breeders Stakes kicked off with success for the Billy Russell-trained Westwell Diego (Good News-Skywalker Lizzie, Nov 20) who posted a fastest-of-the-night 5.01sec sectional on his way to a length and a half success over littermates Acomb Felix and Acomb Irene in 30.27sec (+20), the pair two of six members of the same litter owned, trained and bred by Kevin Ferguson into Monday’s semis.
These include heat two winner Acomb Alfie as the March 2021 son of Hiya Butt and Acomb Ruby made all for a four and a quarter lengths success over local runner All Out Rosie (Colin Wilton) in 30.27sec (+20).
The remaining heat three saw Phil Milner’s home-bred Keefill Peppa strike gold as the March 2021 daughter of Skywalker Logan and Tarsna Atalanta just led into the bend on her way to a near four-length success over Acomb Ruby (Kevin Ferguson) in 30.22sec (+20) in a race in which favourite Signet Goofy was crowded out of contention at the turn before finishing fourth, albeit only narrowly.