GINGERS PRINCE heads into Friday’s Coral Romford Puppy Cup Final as the fastest semi-final winner after Patrick Browne’s Hove raider dominate matters in the second semi to secure his place in the £10,000 decider.

Quickly away along with 5-4 favourite Newinn Souly (Kim Billingham), the December 2022 son of Ballymac Cashout and Mystical Luna made the first bend ahead of the Monmore representative and went on for a two-and-a-half length success over that rival in 23.89sec (normal) for the 400m trip.

The victory delighted Jade Browne, wife of the winning trainer, who said: “We’re absolutely delighted to be in the final and thrilled for Alan Lucas, Gingers Prince’s owner. Alan is a great supporter of our kennel who, since joining us, has become a wonderful friend, too.

“This is his first Cat One final and it would be an absolute dream to win it, giving us and Alan our first Cat One win – and we did go close in this competition once with Newinn TikTok. He was runner-up in 2021 to Brookside Richie.

“Prince was sourced directly from Pat Guilfoyle by Alan and is a pleasure to have here in training. He’s shown real maturity in the few races he’s had for a young dog and, whatever the outcome on Friday, we’re delighted to have made another major final and we wish connections of all the finalists the best of luck.”

Race of the night last Friday was the opening semi-final in which Tom Heilbron’s strong-running Untold Rufiyaa swooped late on to edge front-running ante-post favourite Fire And Ice (Matt Dartnall), the pair now set for a re-match in Friday’s decider.

Fire And Ice and Golden Bullet (Michelle Brown) dominated the early exchanges, the former riding a first-bend bump before asserting, only for Untold Rufiyaa to himself recover well after early crowding and finish best up the home to win by half a length, with Golden Bullet a close-up third but missing out on a place in the final.

The winning time for the January 2023 son of Droopys Sydney and Queen Lucy was 24.10sec (normal).

Roanna Mumba set for the fastest Puppy Cup sectional of the night as the Michelle Brown-trained runner raced to a 3.66sec split on his way to an all-the-way success over Ritz To Rubble (Roy Peckham) in 24.00sec.

The winner, an October 2022 son of Pestana and Ballymac Freya, now joins Gingers Prince as an unbeaten runner heading into the Category One decider which has been won for the last four years by David Mullins-trained runners, meaning there will be a new name on the roll of honour come Friday.

Trap draw for Friday’s Coral Romford Puppy Cup Final: 1 Fire And Ice, 2 Gingers Prince, 3 Untold Rufiyaa, 4 Ritz To Rubble, 5 Newinn Soul (m), 6 Roanna Mamba (m).