Goldies Hotspur emulated half brother Slick Sebastian to land the second Mitch Millward Memorial at Romford on Friday night.
Third to Rubys Rascal in the 2017 St.Leger over 710m but triumphant over the same rival in the 906m TV Trophy, the layers made Mark Wallis’ runner an 11-10f to go 2-1 in the Cat One series. Things initially started well for Rascal who soon led. But Hotspur (Aero Majestic-Slick Sapphire, Jan 15) was on his heels for the first circuit and then took up the running at the sixth bend with Rylane Dash in close proximity.
Mark Fenwick’s runner refused to give up and was soon on terms. Punters were left guessing as the pair raced to the winning line. The judge ordered that Hotspur had prevailed by a short head in 47.96 (-40).
On a successful night for returning owners (see Coronation Cup), it was Andy Pelley who picked up the £5,000 and trophy as trainer Patrick Janssens took the event for the second time.
He said: “It was a terrific race and the first person to congratulate me was John (Clarke – owner Rubys Rascal) We are great friends and are actually going to the awards together next week.
“I originally had dogs with Mark (Wallis) when he was at Walthamstow, but we hit a bad run and lost four dogs in the space of a fortnight. By then Mark had moved onto Yarmouth, and I lived in Watford, so I had enough of ownership for a while. I continued to go racing as a spectator and kept in touch with Patrick, who had been working with Mark before going on his own.
“I asked Patrick to let me know if the right dog came up and he recommended Goldies Hotspur as a possible TV Trophy bitch. He was proved right. I now have half a dozen dogs with him including Goldies half brother Goldies Seb who won the race last year under his previous name of Slick Sebastian.
“I am not sure where we go next, I will speak to Patrick but there aren’t many marathons around. The Golden Jacket is the next big competition but we trialed Hotspur at Crayford with a plan to run her in the Boxing Day marathon but Patrick didn’t think she ran the track that well.”
Mitch Millward Marathon winner GOLDIES HOTSPUR with owner Andy Pelley (left) and his son Rob flanking Pete Vernon, kennelhand to Patrick Janssens. Photo: © Steve Nash
