Alaska was purchased by his owners following some very promising schooling trials in Cork and always looked an above average pup on the gallop at home. His Oxford qualifying trials soon confirmed this as he posted 15.24, 14.99 and 26.90 before heading into a maiden open a short-priced 4/5 favourite. A missed break and some trouble on the bend gave him a lot of work to do but he was hugely impressive when showing big pace to finish 2nd. Unfortunately he finished the race with a sprained ankle and was given 6 weeks to recover.

A comeback Hove trial in 16.57 and a sparkling 26.48 Oxford spin confirmed the promise we had seen and he was kept for the Group Two maiden 450m competition. He ran out an easy 7 length winner of his first round in 26.68 despite a slow start and although beaten in his semi-final he was equally impressive to overcome a missed break and trouble to be beaten just half a length. Thankfully he got the boxes spot on in the £3,000 decider as he led all the way to post a personal best 26.44 when winning by 5 lengths. It was a performance right out of the top drawer for a young dog and at 39kg, he gives the impression he will be much better suited to a more galloping track.

He’s a lovely dog at home and does everything right. He’ll enjoy a short rest over winter before we gain some more experience in readiness for a tilt at the Derby.

We seem to have had Drake in the kennel for a long time already but he’s been restricted to just 8 career starts.

He won his maiden open at Towcester at the 2nd time of asking all the way back in June when coming home very strongly in 28.89.

Unfortunately, a bout of the cough meant he missed the Juvenile Classic at Towcester and we were a little rushed in getting him ready for the puppy Classic at Nottingham. Although he made the final of the competition and finished 4th, he never really looked at home in his four races there but did manage to win his first round heat.

He was switched back to Towcester for a couple of red-hot races in September but picked up a couple of little niggles in his last race there. A split web in a comeback trial and another small bout of the cough has meant the remainder of 2025 has passed him bye but he remains a very talented dog with a big future. Drake heads to Monmore for a possible tilt at the Winter derby as we look to gain some race fitness and experience. The sharp 480m trip wouldn’t be ideal for him but there won’t be too many coming home stronger than him and he’ll definitely be a big part of our derby team and could possibly stay a little further in time as well.

Ferry was purchased at just three months old from breeder Glenn Lynas and was reared and schooled by Claire Conley in Swindon. He always showed promise during his early education in Bicester, but he is a dog who has required a significant amount of time, work and patience to fully bring to the track.

He began qualifying back in February and immediately caught the eye with a 15.59 novice trial, one of the quickest trials we’ve seen from a young pup coming through Bicester, which understandably had us very excited. Unfortunately, that progress was halted when he was found to have damaged a toe joint, resulting in a couple of months on the sidelines.

Returning in April, Ferry produced two very encouraging sprint trials of 15.41 and 15.10. However, after clocking 27.39 in his first-ever four-bend trial, he suffered a shoulder injury that ruled him out until July.

Another smart sprint trial on his return was soon followed by further frustration, as he sustained a small fracture to a central tarsal bone during his next 450m trial, keeping him on the treatment table until November.

Thankfully, all the time, effort and patience have proven more than worthwhile. Since recovering from his hock injury, his trial and race performances have been absolutely faultless. Sprint trials of 15.10 and 14.99 were followed by an impressive 26.73 over four bends, which he repeated the following week. Despite encountering some trouble in his final trial, which he still won in 27.13, we felt the time was right to go racing.

He made no mistake on debut, producing a really impressive maiden open success by two lengths in 26.65. It was a strong-looking contest featuring several promising types, and Ferry showed big pace to lead at the third bend. He followed up the next week in devastating fashion, flying the lids and winning his winners-of-one contest by nearly eight lengths in 26.50 — a performance full of promise that underlined both his early speed and his ability to see out the trip.

Stepping up again the following week into a good-quality standard open, Ferry once more answered every question, leading down the back straight and scoring by almost two lengths in 26.68.

Ferry looks certain to stay 500 metres without issue and, as a British-bred dog, has the added bonus of offering plenty of exciting opportunities looking ahead to 2026. A really nice type who may still have further improvement to come.

We couldn’t really produce a top 10 list without including the brilliant Start The Engine!

Jock has enjoyed a quite remarkable year at Oxford winning a staggering 20 of his 22 races of which 19 have been in open race company.

He began his career back in April in what would prove to be a short lived graded campaign as he won his A3 by a distance in 26.73. He took the step up to open class in his stride when winning in 26.66 and would go onto win a further 5 opens before tasting defeat for the first time when finishing an unlucky 5th in the first round of the Pall Mall. He soon bounced back to winning ways and won another couple of opens before being beaten by kennelmate Dreamin Reggie in a photo finish.

This would prove to be his last defeat as he then went on an 11 race winning streak including a personal best 26.34.

He’ll be kept to Oxford as much as possible after he enjoys a short rest over winter and really is a tremendous dog to enjoy for us all.

Ollie is a strapping looking 38kg puppy who has made a very solid start to his racing career.

He hit the ground running when winning his maiden open race on debut in 27.07 after a slow start and for a big dog he’s a very tight railer.

Ollie was out of luck in his next race but soon bounced back to winning ways when running out an impressive winner of an A1 in 26.70.

He then won his first round heat of the Group One Puppy Collar when leading all the way in 26.80 and followed up in the semi final when running a big race to win in 26.75 after being checked up at the 3rd bend.

Unfortunately he would sprain a wrist in the final after being sent off 11/4 favourite against a good crop of pups. He did well to finish 3rd in the circumstances though and looks a lovely dog for 2026. The time off will do him good as he’s still a big young dog who will only get better with age.