Eclipse overshadows Hove rivals for in-form Heath

HOVE trainer Jason Heath enjoyed a successful night at his base track on Saturday with a hat-trick of open-race winners.

His Burrows Eclipse set the standard in the first of three heats of the Coral Christmas Dual Distance Trophy, making all over the 500m course in a rapid 28.98sec (+10) to book his spot in next week’s £500 515m final.

That time was far in advance of the 29.53sec and 29.55sec posted respectively by Richard Rees’s Zenith Imminent and his own kennelmate Burrows Charm in the other qualifiers.

Heath later took the first heat of the Coral Christmas 695 Stayers courtesy of Rules For Some, who got the better of Dave Elcock’s Swift Megan in a driving finish, clocking 42.51sec (+15).

That time was overshadowed, however, by an excellent run from Belinda Green’s Swift Jarvis in the second of the two qualifiers as he came from the back of the four-runner field to catch Patrick Browne-trained leader Newinn Ginger close home in 41.93sec.

Feature race at Central Park was the £500 final of the 664m Arc Novice Stayers and saw a wide-margin win for the Tony Gifkins-trained Capel Moon.

The in-form stayer was completing a hat-trick when making all in a fastest-of-the-night 40.17sec (normal for all), racing home five lengths clear of Rob Emery’s Reality Power.

Quickest over the 491m standard trip was Maxine Locke’s Ballymac Blanco, who led early and ran away from his rivals to score by almost nine lengths in 28.64sec. Three heats of the Arc Maiden Trophy over the same distance went to Spencer Mavrias’s Lets Go Johnny (29.16sec), Dave Lee’s Brunch Pal (29.37sec) and Dave Puddy’s Heygoodlooking (29.48sec).

At Doncaster, Dave Fradgley’s Tiermana Lucky was quickest over 450m with a 27.67sec success as she beat Phil Milner’s odds-on favourite Keefill Rocky to the punch and made all, but the Kinsley trainer was out of luck with his prolific sprinter Rental Crisis in a 275m one-off as Bev Heaton’s Grovenor Mona dominated in 16.92sec.

The winner, who has proved a revelation since switching to two bends at her Kinsley base in October, is now unbeaten in three starts at the Stainforth circuit.

Fastest over the 483m course was Kirsty Grayson’s local ace Haggard Badger, who took his winning run to four in 29.54sec.

Trap draws
Coral Christmas 695 Stayers final: 1 Minstrels Six, 2 Swift Megan, 3 Newinn Ginger, 4 Rules For Some, 5 Swift Jarvis, 6 Ivy Hill Cherry.
Coral Christmas Dual Distance final: 1 Jacktavern Mojo, 2 Zenith Imminent, 3 Burrows Charm, 4 Missile One, 5 Uncle Freddie (m), 6 Burrows Eclipse (w).

Want top greyhound betting advice and the latest greyhound racing news? Make sure you take a look at Racing Post Greyhounds for more

Commercial notice: This article contains affiliate links. Offers are handpicked and come from operators our experts have first-hand experience of. Opening an account via one of these links will earn revenue for the Racing Post, which will be used to continue producing our award-winning coverage of horseracing and sports betting.