EMILY WALLIS: Greyhound Derby Blog #5

This weekend, we are looking forward to the third round of the Derby and we are down to just 46 runners! All the races will be on one night now so we are guaranteed to see our eventual Derby winner on Saturday, writes EMILY WALLIS.

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⭐ The second round brought less shocks and big name exits than the first round and we saw some really impressive performances. It all still looks very open though and there are plenty in with a chance of going all the way!

⭐ Last Friday, in the first heat of the second round we were left with just a four dog race, however it was still very interesting with people struggling to split Proper Heiress and Ballymac Deniro. It was a race that really set the tone for the second round as Proper Heiress popped out of the traps and led up but the promising Ballymac Deniro followed close behind down the back. Proper Heiress, or ‘Harry’ as he is known in the kennel, doesn’t like being beaten though and is very strong, he kicked again coming for home and won in a flying 28.42, Ballymac Deniro certainly lost nothing in defeat being beaten just under 2 lengths.

⭐ After such an impressive performance in the first heat, the second heat didn’t disappoint either! We had a warm favourite in the John Kennedy trained Epic Ace and although he was fourth coming out of the traps, he roared to the bend and just kept pulling further clear of the field to equal the track record set by Ballymac Duffle the previous week in 28.37! He was the only entry for the Kennedys but he has taken to Towcester so well and, despite the long journey from south Tipperary in Ireland. Interestingly, his track record run was just two spots quicker than the record his litter brother, Lennies Desire, set in the Derby Plate last year.

⭐ However, this track record only lasted just over 24 hours as Ballymac Duffle didn’t want to share with Epic Ace so went even quicker in his second round heat and set a new record of 28.31! I was interested to see how our current Derby favourite would deal with a slightly trickier draw in trap 4, however, a ping break meant it didn’t matter where he was drawn as he could comfortably get across to the rail and from there could once again show how fast he is! He has now shortened up to 6/1 in the outright market, he has fared well in the draw for Saturday too so I expect him to shorten even further heading into the quarter-finals.

⭐ Liam Dowling has a seriously talented team who are all relatively young and improving all the time. Not only are they fast but he has some really good-looking dogs in there too. Ballymac Ralf was another one who put up a great performance on Friday, stealing the lead from Coloursaregreen at the first bend and going on to win in 28.47! He is a beautiful blue and fawn dog with a lovely white chest.

⭐ Make sure to check out our live blog from Towcester each night of the Derby where I am gathering plenty of photos and interviews from connections for our socials and live blog. Amongst all the excitement of watching the racing and interviewing connections, I had time to go and have my favourite dessert from the restaurant, a Creme Brulee! It was delicious so if you were thinking of booking in for food at Towcester, I can certainly recommend the desserts!

⭐ Anyway, after many impressive performances on Friday night, the last heat was one of the races I was looking forward to the most. It looked an interesting clash between the exciting Underground Gold, Lennies Eddie and Glengar Silent. It was the hugely exciting young star for Paul Young though who continued to impress, once again using determination to get himself round the bend and win in good fashion. He hasn’t clocked any flashy times as of yet in the Derby, which could be the reason he is still 18/1 for outright honours (as well as drawing a very hot heat which we will get into!) but he can only beat what’s put in front of him and, so far, I have been more impressed with him each time he has gone to the traps.

⭐ Every winner on Saturday was impressive including Pat Buckley’s two winners on the night. Hackney Corner missed his break and looked in slight trouble on the run up but showed his class to turn in a pitch and go on to win. Glengar Kane would have been an easier watch for the Buckley team as he flew out of the traps and was never in doubt. Both look like two more serious contenders for outright glory.

⭐ It was nice to have the draw for the third round straight after racing on Saturday and a few people stuck around to watch including myself. Anyone at the track is welcome to watch but if you aren’t there, you can again watch it exclusively here on Star Sports.

⭐ A very good and welcome bit of news is that the Racing Post are going to be broadcasting the Derby live on YouTube, X and Facebook from the third round onwards. Sponsored by Star Sports, the show will consist of Jason Barrasford and Tony Bullen in the studio and myself gathering interviews at the track! I am really looking forward to it and I’m glad the Derby is getting the coverage it deserves.

⭐ Looking ahead to the third round this weekend, we are set for some very exciting races. All the heats are classy and you won’t want to miss any of them but there are a couple that look particularly hard!

⭐ Heat 5 is probably the one that stands out the most and when the draw was taking place there were plenty of murmurs every time a dog got drawn into it as it kept getting harder and harder. In trap 1 we have Glengar Kane who has come through the first two rounds unbeaten and was so impressive last week as mentioned. In trap 2 is Scooby The Lady who is in flying form and, despite getting picked up in the first round, put that right last week with a very good trap to line victory.

⭐ We did have Irish Gold Cup winner Coloursaregreen in trap 3 but he has unfortunately been withdrawn. Underground Gold will go from trap 4, again unbeaten so far; Glengar Silent runs from trap 5 and, although it doesn’t seem like he has taken to Towcester so far, he’s an Irish Derby finalist and oozes class. Finally, from trap 6 we have Ballymac Iroko who won in the first round in a very fast 28.66.

⭐ So far, Ballymac Iroko has been inconsistent out of the Towcester traps and Glengar Silent hasn’t been doing much early in his races so it looks like a battle to lead between Glengar Kane, Scooby The Lady and Underground Gold. All had very similar sectionals last week and look really hard to split.

⭐ The other heat that looks ultra competitive is the last where we have four round two heat winners from last week. Droopys Aladdin has his preferable inside draw in trap 1, he is a real winner and won in good style last week for Mike Burton, Strike It Skye also won her heat last week and has run so well in both rounds so far, she’ll go from trap 2.

⭐ Ballymac Blanco is in trap 3 and, although he never seems to do anything super flashy, he’s a really consistent dog and ran a brilliant race being second to Glengar Kane last week. Salacres Lock Up, unbeaten so far in the competition, runs from trap 4 which isn’t ideal for him but his early speed should seem him there or thereabout at the first bend. Then we have two of Liam Dowling’s hopefuls in traps 5 and 6. Ballymac Deniro lost nothing in defeat to Proper Heiress last week and could potentially improve again and Ballymac Stud is another who is unbeaten in the competition so far and has electric early speed.

⭐ Ballymac Deniro and Stud seem quite similar and there’s not too much to split them on their runs last week, Salacres Lock Up could be a hazard for them going into the bend and this could leave the inside runners getting a clearer run, I can guarantee anyone in the race will be delighted with being third!

⭐ I can’t wait to watch every single heat and we also have the TV Trophy final after the Derby heats to look forward too. It looks to be a match between the brilliant Mongys Wild who charged the traps last week and ended up giving the field about a seven length head start! He’ll need to come out better to beat Droopys Rated for Paul Young who made a real statement in his heat last week in his first ever marathon race.

⭐ After Saturday we’ll be down to our last 24 dogs and in the quarter-final stage! I am looking forward to finding out who those 24 dogs will be. To everyone connected with a runner – good luck!

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