AUTHOR: Lewis Williams
EMILY WALLIS: Greyhound Derby BLOG 9
EMILY WALLIS continues her blogging on the Star Sports Greyhound Derby with the quarter finals now complete. Emily reflects on the action last week and also looks ahead to the semi finals on Saturday with the countdown clock still ticking down to the Derby final on Saturday 29 June ….
⭐ LATEST STAR OUTRIGHT MARKET, HEATS & SPECIALS ⭐
⭐ Welcome back to the blog as we are unbelievably at the semi final stage of the Derby! The big finals night is now only next week and what a night it will be but first we have another great Saturday to look forward to with the semi-finals as well as a full card of great racing, writes EMILY WALLIS.
It is a massive sporting week in general and many of the team are busy at Royal Ascot, including myself for the first time, but Saturday night at Towcester should round it off nicely with some real quality action. The two Derby semis are extremely competitive and I think it’s really hard to predict at this moment who will be the six finalists next Saturday night. The card also features plenty of supporting competitions over two, four and six bends with the a lot of the best dogs in the country over all distances on show on Saturday night, it really won’t be one to miss!
⭐ It’s fair to say we haven’t really had any nice Derby time weather as of yet, particularly on Saturday night where it could have been mistaken as a night in the middle of winter but things are definitely looking up for this Saturday and hopefully by next weekend we will be able to leave our thick coats at home. Despite this, the crowds at Towcester the last few weeks have been excellent with plenty of people coming to see the stars of our sport on show and rightly so. News from Towcester is that the next two weekends will be really busy which adds so much to the atmosphere at the track, Towcester are hosting a culinary festival alongside the semi-final action on Saturday which should bring plenty of people in and it has been reported that the restaurant as well as all the boxes have been sold out for a little while which is great news.
⭐ In terms of the quarter-finals last Saturday we saw some really great performances and there was such a mix of early pace and staying power throughout them making for all the more interesting racing. The shock of the quarter finals was probably Crafty Shivoo being knocked out, she tried her hardest after a costly missed break but was just picked up for a qualifying spot by last year’s champion Gaytime Nemo who, to be fair to him, came from absolutely miles off the pace and showed his versatility and exactly why he is a Derby winner and it’s nice to see the defending champion in the draw for another week. Winner of the quarter-final was Churchfield Syd who consistently shows the advantages wide runners can have in missing that inside trouble, he isn’t clocking the fastest times by any means but, arguably, there isn’t loads of early pace left in the Derby and he could be a tricky dog to lead up.
⭐ Next up on Saturday was another fine display by the ante-post favourite King Memphis, he is loving trap 1 round Towcester and won easily in, the quickest of the round, 28.65. It is interesting thinking back to the first round where he got overtaken for that top spot in the outright market by his kennelmate and cousin Queen Joni but he’s not put a foot wrong in the Derby so far and looks like he’s coming into his best form at exactly the right time.
⭐ With the first two winners being English trained, the Irish certainly got their revenge in the next to quarter finals. The third quarter final was won by Ballymac Slick impressively catching last year’s Irish Derby winner in The Other Kobe which isn’t an easy thing to do, the time does suggest The Other Kobe perhaps wasn’t at his brilliant best but he did enough to qualify which is all you want at this stage. Boylesports Bob was the other hugely impressive winner, he has looked a little bit lost around Towcester so far but really took off on Saturday winning his race by 10 and a half lengths in a rapid 28.68. On Bob, Susan Hennessy said: “We were delighted with Bob on Saturday. He trapped out well and showed what he can do with a clear run – now he has to do it all again! He faces a top class field in his semi-final and will need to do everything right. He’s come out the quarter final in great shape, it’s an exciting but anxious week, but roll on Saturday!”
⭐ LATEST STAR OUTRIGHT MARKET, HEATS & SPECIALS ⭐
⭐ The first semi-final on Saturday looks to be full of the more staying on types, particularly with De Lahdedah, Whyaye Man, Coss Tokyo and Boylesports Bob so it is probably crucial none of them give the others too much of a head start as they could prove extremely hard to pick up but it could be the case you don’t known who will qualify until they cross the line on Saturday, it is a really exciting race.
⭐ The second semi-final definitely has more early pace with The Other Kobe, King Memphis and Churchfield Syd all with loads of early speed, they can’t all lead though so it’s quite an intriguing one and again so hard to predict the qualifiers. King Memphis looks to have a slightly tricky draw as he’ll need to find a way around The Other Kobe early on but the last time he was in trap 4 he did his best sectional yet in the Derby and equalled the track record! Memphis is just a shade of odds on for the race but much bigger than what he has been for a couple of the rounds reflecting the competitive nature of it.
⭐ Of course once we know the six finalists they will all be invited to the Derby lunch at Towcester the next Monday. It’s a very prestigious event and one I really enjoyed last year and look forward to going again this year, there has been plenty of planning going on, as much as there can be without knowing who the dogs are going to be. But it will be a great experience for all the connections, frantic work will be going on Sunday making personalised videos for each finalist and doing those final preparations. On the day, all connections get invited up to speak about their runner, there is of course some lunch and then the all important draw for the final. THE DRAW WILL BE BROADCAST LIVE AND EXCLUSIVE ON THIS SITE – CLICK HERE
⭐ If you want to get even more into the Derby spirit ready for the weekend then make sure to join the Towcester Derby chat Twitter (X) space on at 8pm this evening. Billy Brennan will be hosting alone this week due to me being at Royal Ascot but it should be another great one. Last week I think there was a standout guest in Gavin O’Mahoney who owns both Coss Tokyo and Droopys Pivotel still in the Derby; he summed up the emotions of the Derby and what it means to him as an owner absolutely fantastically, you could hear the passion and love of the game strongly. If you didn’t listen last week I’d urge you to watch the recording and make sure you tune into the one tonight as it does get the excitement going ahead of the weekend.
⭐ LATEST STAR OUTRIGHT MARKET, HEATS & SPECIALS ⭐
⭐ Looking ahead to finals night it looks to be an absolute gala card already but it will be hours of fun with pre-race entertainment as well as East 17 on straight after racing, if you haven’t yet made plans of going I couldn’t recommend it more. It’s the best night of the year for everyone in greyhound racing and it’s so exciting now being so close.
⭐ My next blog will be looking at each of the finalists which is crazy to think we’re there already but I am looking forward to watching the action on Saturday night and finding out who those six names are. For anyone reading still connected with a runner in the Derby, I wish you the best of luck. If you can get to Towcester on Saturday then I’d really recommend it as it should be a great atmosphere. I’ll be back next week!
EMILY
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