EMILY WALLIS: Welsh Greyhound Derby Blog

This weekend sees the return of the Welsh Greyhound Derby at Valley Stadium and Star Sports are delighted to be sponsoring the competition.

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🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿  STAR SPORTS WELSH GREYHOUND DERBY ANTE-POST 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿

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🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 This is the first time the race is being run at a licensed greyhound track since 1977 and it is a race steeped in history! Originally being run at Welsh White City, the famous dual English Derby winner, Mick The Miller, won the Welsh Derby in 1930.

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 From 1945 until 1977, the Welsh Derby was run at Arms Park in Cardiff, where another dual English Derby winner added the Welsh classic to his CV in Patricias Hope in 1972. The Welsh Derby has been run in recent years at Valley when it was still independent but this is the first since the track became licensed by the GBGB three years ago, and it’s great to see a race so steeped in history back on the calendar.

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 I am really looking forward to making the trip to Wales for what should be a great finals night in two weeks’ time. First though, we have the heats and semi-finals to determine who is going to be in the final.

🏆 It was brilliant to hear that the competition attracted over 40 entries; this had to be reduced to 36 runners for the first round where the first three will progress from each of the six heats on Sunday. There’s plenty of local hopefuls in the line-up but there is also outside interest with a few trainers making the long journey with their greyhounds.

One of those is Nathan Hunt, based in Cambridgeshire, who has four going for him in the first round, including ante-post favourite, Anglesey Milo, priced at 9/2. It’s not hard to see why he is favourite for the competition; his last race was at Valley, winning the Category Two British Bred competition in a good time of 28.13.

STAR SPORTS WELSH DERBY: Nathan Hunt Interview

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 At a track where experience around there can really come into play, Anglesey Milo has taken to it brilliantly winning both of his races there. It was a lovely story with Milo actually being bred in Anglesey in Wales by his owner Mike Jones and Nathan himself being Welsh and Valley being one of the tracks that first got him into greyhound racing!

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 It was a clear-cut decision for Nathan to give Anglesey Milo a short rest and then go for the Welsh Derby, a win that I’m sure will mean a lot if he is able to justify the ante-post favouritism.

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 Second in the betting at 8/1 is Sawpit Signature, a promising type for trainer David Hunt. Still a puppy until November, he has more experience around the track originally starting in D2 grade in June. The step up to four bends in July worked wonders for him winning an A3 very convincingly and not looking back. Since, he has won a heat of a Category Three competition at Monmore and two more open races at Valley in great style, his best time coming in his last race winning in 28.18. A dog who could have even more improvement in the locker, he’s used to the track and looks an exciting dog.

🏉 Another with a team of three on Sunday is former England Rugby player, Mike Burton, who is a great story in himself. After a very successful sporting career, greyhound racing had always been a passion of his. Now 80 years old, he has had his training licence for a couple of years and has been extremely successful in this sport too, winning two Category One finals and being prominent on the open race scene. He is based in Gloucester but is attached to Valley so he knows the track well and the dogs that will suit it and I’m sure this is a competition he’d also take great pride in winning.

🐶 Face The Storm is one of those going for Mike Burton on Sunday, and he is perhaps known for his exploits over further distances, recently running six bends at Monmore and Hove, but three of his six career wins so far have come at Valley so it’s a track he likes and he has won his last two races there over both the four and six-bend distances, it wouldn’t be surprising if he can run on and book a place in the final in two weeks’ time.

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 Droopys Fearless is another for Mike who has recent winning form at Valley. It took him quite a while to find that first win until last week where he won a decent maiden around the track in 28.20. He has only just turned two and that first win can do wonders for the greyhounds so he could be one to watch in the competition. He is 12/1 in the ante-post market.

🐶 It’s a long journey from Kent to Wales for trainer Daniel Brabon but he is taking one runner in the hopes it’ll be a successful trip. His charge, King Floyd, should be used to travelling, having already competed in competitions in both Newcastle and also Sunderland where he came second in the British Bred Cup Final.

He’s an extremely well-bred sort out of Fromposttopillar and Queen Beyonce and doesn’t have too many miles on the clock. He has had a couple of races at Valley, where he was third in the British Bred final mentioned earlier, won by Anglesey Milo.

🏆 There’s plenty more greyhounds I could mention who have decent chances in the competition which does look highly competitive.

🐶 Heat 2 looks one of those very competitive races where connections will be glad to come through it. Outa The Clouds in trap 1 is a well-bred type who has previous open race form at both Monmore and Oxford; Magical Hawk in trap 2 is another for Mike Burton who hasn’t had many races so far but looks promising and could improve for another look at the track.

🐶 In trap 3, we have Fun Time Frankie, who is a fairly new recruit for Nathan Hunt but has some decent Irish form and some nice early pace. Sawpit Signature, mentioned earlier, will go from trap 4, looking to get his campaign off to a good start and in trap 5 we have Ashway June who has mostly run in graded races in her career but is a serial winner, already having 27 wins to her name, and has some very decent recent trials on her card and finally, in trap 6 we have Gwyn Luka, a local who could be slightly outclassed here but certainly knows the track well.

After Sunday, we’ll know our semi-finalists and who is a step closer to adding their name to a list of Welsh Derby winners that goes back to 1928.

Best of luck to all the runners and their connections!

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