Space Jet won four. Aayamza Royale won four. Queen Joni has now won four Category One competitions after winning the 2024 Coral Brighton Belle at Hove on Saturday – and she won’t be two and a half until the summer.
The KSS Syndicate’s amazing home bred bitch went to traps for just the 24th time for win no.18 and this is how she did it.
Assistant Trainer Rab McNair said: “What can you say about her? She always turns up when necessary. As I watched the race I saw Dusty come away and I knew that she would give Joni plenty of room on the inside.
“As they came off the second bend I started to think about Mark’s bitch (Crafty Shivoo) and wondering where she was. That’s really a compliment to how good I think she is.
“But then in the same split second, I thought ‘what difference does it make?’ I don’t see any greyhound being able to back run her from that position. We certaintly wouldn’t have one.”
The closest would have to be Derby favourite King Memphis whose reputation continues to grow by the race (though he was beaten by Joni in the Kent Plate Final).
Memphis beat Eclipse winner by seven lengths in a supporting open, a final preparation for next weekend’s PGR Judgement Night. His winning time was 30.02 for the 515m on going rated at -30.
Rab said: “I was surprised that that was the going allowance. Personally I made it closer to -50 and looking at some of the other winning times on the night, I stand by that.
“The going at Hove has been below what you might expect for a little while now and I hope that they management look to look at it. I don’t want it to sound like a criticism but it is just about the only thing at the track where I can find fault.
“The meals were superb, the way the owners were looked after by the management was exceptional. You couldn’t be made to feel more welcome. I love everything else about the place.”
The meeting also saw another exceptional run from Carol Weatherall’s youngster Untold Dollar in the final of the Hove Puppy Cup.
You often learn more about a hound’s quality when things don’t entirely go to plan, than when they get everything spot-on. And things looked quite far from ideal when the red jackted favourite walked away at traprise. But didn’t he show some quality!
