EMILY WALLIS: Greyhound Derby Blog 4

⭐ Firstly, Towcester has been in top condition the last few days. It’s so nice to see all the work that’s been done and it really does make a difference to the feel of the Derby this year. It didn’t quite feel like it should be the first night of the Derby on Thursday as it was bitterly cold at the track and the sun was nowhere to be seen – I’d say this did keep a few people at home. However, when I was back on Saturday it was the complete opposite and there was a really healthy crowd cheering on the dogs from the stand. I heard great reviews about the food in the restaurant once again and the big screen to the side of the track is a really nice touch. Is there anything better than watching the Derby heats in the stands when the sun is beaming down on you?!

⭐ Like I said, most of those who were towards the top of the ante-post market did qualify. The exception would be Wicky Ned who found a lot of trouble in his heat and was unfortunately knocked over coming off the last bend. Speaking to Hannah Fenwick, daughter of trainer Jimmy Fenwick, she said, “Thankfully Ned has come off sound and that is, of course, all that matters to us. Hopefully he’ll be ready to go back to Towcester in a couple of weeks for a crack at the Derby Plate.” He is clearly a dog who has no real issue with Towcester having done some flying trials round the track and also winning the puppy competition on Derby final night last year, but he’s been desperately unlucky in the last two years in the main event having drawn extremely hard heats and not getting a run. The best news though that he was safe and sound after Thursday’s fall!

⭐ In the same race, ante-post favourite Bockos Diamond did win but it wasn’t how a lot of his fans thought it would go! He was actually initially led and almost caught by the 50/1 shot in the race, Killieford Goram, who you have to say is running really well at the minute making the Grand Prix final last month and then putting in that run. However, to many people’s relief, Bockos Diamond did win and is safely through into the next round; we’re yet to see him trap in a race at Towcester which he will need to start doing. Although, admittedly it’s near impossible to see him not leading up his second round race – it’s full of strong runners so it will be interesting to see how close they can get to him.

⭐ The stand out performance of the first round for me had to be from the defending champion, De Lahdedah. There were a few mentions about him on the preview night saying he maybe doesn’t have the same speed he did last year, it’s like De Lahdedah heard this as he absolutely flew out the traps and showed us what he can still do clocking a flying 28.50. Liam Dowling clearly knows how to train a Derby winner and how to train De Lahdedah to win a Derby and will be wanting him to come on gradually; I think Liam’s reaction tells us a lot, he was surprised with the time himself being that quick but that just shows us how great the dog really is!

⭐ Speaking of the final last year, we had four of those finalists entered into the first round in De Lahdedah, Sunnyside Broxi (ex. Ballymac Gizmo), Boylesports Bob and Churchfield Syd and they all won their heats apart from Sunnyside Broxi who got beat a short head by Churchfield Syd. They’ve clearly all still got it! At Imperial Kennels on Saturday when the van was getting ready to go to Towcester, Whyaye Man, last year’s third, was barking like we should be putting him on the van too! Unfortunately he had to retire due to an injury last year but he’s loving being spoilt rotten in retirement.

⭐ The Derby always brings out some nice stories and one of those was revealed on the Gone to the Dogs show on Friday night when Esther Driver had the first two home in heat 12, with No Better Feelin leading home Hopes Ompaloompa. He was paraded by his owner Diane Wood who explained that her husband unfortunately got diagnosed with cancer in 2022 so they didn’t own any greyhounds for a while. Diane said, “When he got the all clear I went out and bought him (No Better Feelin), he’s done us proud.” He’s a dog who certainly knows how to win having won four of his six races in 2025 and connections will, I’d have thought, be happy with a draw much closer to the rails in the second round. He will certainly have a lot of people cheering him on.

⭐ Another nice story is Faypoint Susie doing so well after having a puppy! I mentioned it in the blog last week but Graham Holland bred Susie to Newinn Taylor which resulted in one pup called Midnight, as he was born at midnight. It’s a great achievement anyway to have competed in the Derby for the last three years but this year she is a Mum; not only is she just competing at Towcester but she also won her heat on Friday leading all the way to clock a good 29.05. After her win, Rachel Holland shared this adorable photo of Susie with Midnight…

⭐ In my last kennel visit before the competition I visited Patrick Janssens and said I felt like his team was going slightly under the radar, well he had no less than five winners in the first round courtesy of Droopys Trade, Romeo Empire, Slick Sentinel, Barntick Bear and Droopys Plunge. He may not be going under the radar anymore! Especially after the first round, I think Patrick will be very hopeful this year, he’s got such a versatile team including young dogs as well as more experienced dogs and there’s a good combination of early pace and staying power in there.

⭐ We didn’t have to wait long until we found out where all the qualifiers would be taking their place in the second round with the draw at 12pm yesterday. I must say, seeing the draws for the dogs in our kennel at first I thought they’d been very unlucky but taking a closer look every race is just so good. A lot of the races are so packed with quality it’s hard to believe it’s just the second round.

⭐ The second heat will be tough and anyone in it would snatch your hand off for third place. In trap 1 you have Teddie, a really progressive bitch for Belinda Green who should come on for last week’s second place in what was a good first round heat; in trap 2 there’s the defending champion De Lahdedah who, as mentioned, really looks like he’s here for business once again this year. In trap 3 is our own Table Toppers, the Blue Riband winner at the track and another who will come on a bundle for last week’s run, then you have Soul Choice next, another round one winner. If that wasn’t hard enough you have two dogs who clocked some of the fastest first round times in Lennies Desire and Ballinabola Joe – ouch!

⭐ The last heat on Saturday night is another extremely hot race with Faypoint Harvey and Romeo Steel going head-to-head again, Jaytee Craze who was impressive in the first round, Droopys Prefect won his heat and will take his place from trap 4 in that race. Cheap Sandwiches will come from trap 5 and he was so impressive in the first round he’s now second in the ante-post market and Boylesports Bob who looks like he’s going to be hard to knock out again this year. However, like I said, there doesn’t really seem like there’s many easy races with the quality being top notch this year.

⭐ It is interesting too with the amount of wide seeds in the competition where there are two in some races, something not seen all too often in the Derby. With so many of them being strong runners and also high up in the market, it could get interesting in the later rounds with them as some will prefer trap 6 much more than 5 and, if drawn the wrong way round, this could prove crucial too.

⭐ I’ve left the mention of the GWA tipping competition till quite late on as I was hoping I’d be doing slightly better than I am! There’s still a long way to go though despite half of the actual Derby races already being run, it’s nice that all supporting races are included so there’s still time to get back into it. Ian Fortune will be happy with his top spot at the minute courtesy of his 6/1 NAP, Sole Mio. As ever, it adds another interesting aspect to the competition.

⭐ I can’t wait to be back at Towcester on the weekend. At the minute, the weather looks like it’s going to be nice again so if you can get down to the track then please do. To everyone connected with a runner, enjoy the week and best of luck in the second round!