Thirty plus hours of driving was more than worth it for connections of Santas Amigo who stole the show at Sunderland Stadium on Friday in the Premier Greyhound Racing Classic.
David Mullins’ Essex raider became the latest greyhound to etch his name onto the trophy of the Newcastle Road venue’s most prestigious competition, which carries a winning prize of £20,000.
The September ’23 son of Santas Jet beat rivals Whitehills Titan and favourite Bockos Buster to the first turn and never looked back, winning by five lengths and posting a personal best time of 26.92 seconds over the track’s 450m trip.
It marked Santas Amigo’s first Category One success having raced in the Puppy Cup, Puppy Classic and Juvenile Classic – where he reached the final – already this year.
Kelly Gutteridge, kennel hand for David Mullins, made the trip from Brookside Kennels’ Wickford base for three successive Fridays and was thrilled to see the team’s efforts rewarded.
“It gives you such a buzz when you win a Category One competition like the Classic,” said Kelly.
“It definitely made the drive home feel a lot quicker.
“The race went to plan, he came away well and had a clean run around the bend. Once he’s in front and on the bunny I was confident nothing was going to catch him.
“He’s a strong staying greyhound. We’re delighted for the owners as they’ve had to be patient with him but he’s come back really fresh and this was only his third run back after a break.”
Bockos Buster finished second, while local hope Droopys Sort ran on strongly to finish third. Whitehills Titan, Coolavanny Mercy and Unanimous Leon were fourth, fifth and sixth respectively.
Meanwhile, the evening’s other big final – the £5,000 Arena Racing Company Shootout Stakes – went the way of Trimdon trainer Tom Heilbron and lightly raced Bower Sheeran.
On only his sixth start, the November ’23 black dog flashed out of the boxes to score by one-and-three-quarter lengths with Mark Bulmer’s Cunnigar King in second.
Tom, the brainchild of the Shootout Stakes format where only six heat winners from the previous week’s card qualified, said: “He seems to be getting stronger with every race.
“Cunnigar King was coming back to him towards the end, but he did the hard work early which paid off.
“We don’t know how far he’ll go, but I’d like to think he could follow the path of Links Maverick and maybe have a crack at the Pall Mall in Oxford next summer.
“The format of the competition is different and has been a big success. It’s popular in Australia, and you’ve got to do it right twice to win it which is exactly what Bower Sheeran did.”
Elsewhere on the card, there was local success for Dean Blackbird when Tullymurry Shine sprung a surprise to win Division I of the Arena Racing Company Dash priced 16/1.
Carl Jackson’s Crafty Regalo won the Arena Racing Company Maiden Final while Jill Sutherst’s Witton Versace took the £1,000 BGBF British Bred Invitation Race.
The biggest cheer of the night was kept for Slingshot Poppy, though, who won the Premier Greyhound Racing Classic Consolation for Brian Fairbairn and owner Craig Armstrong, who brought a party of more than 30 racegoers from Scotland.
The group were back at the presentation area for the ARC Stayers when Clona Ice won her fourth race.
Sunderland Greyhound Stadium continues to race on Friday nights and Sunday daytime through the festive period. Tickets and hospitality packages can be purchased via www.sunderland-greyhounds.co.uk.
