Gerwyn Price's Icemans Girl coolly through to semis

Having shown strong form in Ireland as Epic Bella and trialled well in front of a watching Price at the Wolverhampton track last week, the July 22 pup – trained by Nathan Hunt – stormed home in a time of 28.78secs to triumph in one of six first-round heats.

She has also been drawn in her preferred box, trap one for this coming weekend’s semi-finals which will no doubt excite the three-time grand slam champion, although he was unable to see her victory in person on Saturday afternoon.

Icemans Girl is joined in the semis by fellow ‘home’ dog Vixons Filofax, who moved closer to the £20,000 winners’ prize with a convincing success in heat three for Monmore trainer Brian Thompson and owners Vixon Contracts Ltd.

Omuircheartaigh, trained by Newcastle’s Tom Heilbron, had the quickest time of the meeting while none of the favourites won on the day. Heilbron’s middle seed ran an impressive 28.16secs, with last month’s Northern Puppy Derby victor Clona Curly (Diane Henry, Towcester) having to settle for second in that race.

Clona Curly was the 4/7 favourite but at least got through to the semi-finals. Ricky Holloway’s Miss Syd from Crayford, a 7/4F in race seven, and the Maxine Locke-trained Droopys Display from Romford, 6/4F in race 10, failed to advance having finished sixth and fourth respectively.

The first heat saw Patrick Janssens (Towcester) dog Droopys Supply finish well and take the spoils ahead of Getup Me Champ (Belinda Green, Hove) and wide runner Bramble Tango (Steven Anderson, Newcastle).

Union Rebel (Kevin Hutton, Oxford) then burst out of the traps and led all the way to run out victorious in race eight – Deelish Nora (Janssens) and another British debutant in Untold Dollar (Carol Weatherall) in a dead-heat for second place.

Vixons Filofax was a 6/1 winner in the next heat, victorious by fourth lengths ahead of Clona Kody (Richard Rees, Hove) and Gary The Arb (Green), a convincing display in 28.37secs.

Icemans Girl (Hunt) managed to best Droopys Eunice (Locke) and Madabout Peck (Heilbron) in a hotly-contested race 10, while Hutton’s Coppice Ella finished third behind Clona Curly (Henry) and Omuircheartaigh (Heilbron) in heat five.

Hutton had his second winner in the final race as Ballymac Zari went home in 28.47 – Barntick Bear (Janssens) second and Droopys Auntie (Paul Young, Romford) third.

Omuircheartaigh runs from trap five once more in the first of three semi-finals next weekend. Vixons Filofax, who tends to prefer trap three or four, faces a tough job from trap one in the second semi while competition favourite Clona Curly has trap five in semi-final three.