Chris Akers ended a tough week on a high when his Fearsome Encore held off Queen Dolly to claim the £3,000 BGBF British Bred Oaks final over 483m at Doncaster.

The winning trainer saw top duo Gymstar Elusive and Sonic Spur struck down by injury within 24 hours of each other last week but Fearsome Encore reversed semi-final form with Acomb Lillian to claim the title.

Always in front after a flying start, she dug deep to hold off Queen Dolly, who had found early trouble, by half a length in 29.58sec in a contest where there was a real coming together at the third bend. Sadly Russanda Reel had gone wrong at the first bend and failed to finish. The BGBF would like to extend sympathies to connections of Russanda Reel at this time.

The beautiful blue daughter of Geelo Vegas and Fearsome Dee, bred by John Marriot and owned by his Vegas Five Syndicate, has now recorded 17 wins in her 44 career starts. With eight wins in her last ten races, Encore is in the form of her life, though Chris admits that he seriously underestimated her when he took over her training from breeder John Marriott last October. He said: “John is first and foremost a breeder and when he asked if I would take on Fearsome Encore for the Vegas Five Syndicate, I didn’t have very high expectations. She ran in a few A2s and in the end, I asked the racing office to downgrade her to A3.

“But she won an A1 since the lock down and to win a competition like this is such a great feeling. She seems to be loving her life. She loves routine especially long walks in the fields and woods; she is the only dog in the kennel who hates the walking machine. The lads who own her were delighted, they had backed her to win it at 12-1. They are a great bunch, and all local Doncaster lads. They went for a curry before the final and then came to see her after the race. They will be over at the weekend to get some proper photographs.”

BGBF Chair, Liz Mort added ‘This was our first competition since racing stopped for the Lockdown, and we couldn’t be more pleased with the support it has received, the number of entries, and the quality of bitches in the final! Great to see how many really good British Bred bitches there are around – and so many were daughters of, or related to, previous BGBF Oaks finalists!
Fearsome Encore put in a fantastic run – congratulations to breeder John Marriott and his Vegas Five syndicate! For three of the group Encore is the first greyhound they have owned, so what a great introduction to the sport! ‘

The BGBF would like to thank SIS, Doncaster and connections of all runners who have supported the event.