Greyhound Derby final runner-by-runner preview

Following five rounds of intense competition, six greyhounds will head to the traps on Saturday night to contest the final of the 2017 Star Sports English Greyhound Derby. 

Sky Sports 5 will be providing extensive coverage of a gala card that will also include the Derby Plate, the Champion Hurdle, a couple of invitational events and a staging of the Dorando Marathon with eight (rather than the traditional six) runners in the field.

Four railers, one middle seed and one wide have progressed to the final of this year’s Derby, with two Irish raiders taking on four British-trained runners (though Hayley Keightley will be patriotically flying the flag for Wales).  

With our each-way advice about Tyrur Shay coming good, it’s pure profit for this column but putting that aside - let’s take a closer look at the finalists…

20.56 - Star Sports 2017 English Greyhound Derby Final (500 metres)

1 HIYA BUTT

Bk d Hondo Black – Hather For Pat (Sep 13)

Trainer: Hayley Keightley

Owner: Paul Ellis

Fastest calculated time: 28.97 (20/6/17)  

The oldest dog left in the Derby, and a finalist in last year’s renewal at Wimbledon. 

A draw of five did for his chances at Plough Lane but there can be no excuses on Saturday as the red jacket appears ideal.  

Hiya Butt finished off 2016 with victory in the Laurels at Belle Vue, though most experts wrote him off for this competition in the belief that he seemed unlikely to stay 500 metres. 

Narrowly dodging the bullet of first-round elimination, a tactical but highly controversial switch to a middle seeding (subsequently removed by the racing manager) saw the son of Hondo Black get out of the traps and deliver his best sectional to date. 

Early pace has always been his strong suit and he appears to have got used to the boxes at Towcester. Unfortunate to be picked up close home in the quarter-finals by Tyrur Shay, he did enough to fend off Droopys Acrobat at the first turn during his semi-final.

A third finalist in as many years for Paul Ellis, he does have it to do on bare time figures to beat the big two in the market. Nevertheless, he is improving at the right time and will have a considerable impact if getting around the first bend in front.   

2 DROOPYS ACROBAT

Bk d Tullymurry Act – Droopys Blossom (Sep 14)

Trainer: Seamus Cahill

Owner: Quick Decision

Fastest calculated time: 28.92 (20/6/17)

Formerly trained in Ireland, Droopys Acrobat began his British career with Richard Rees before joining the Keston kennels of Seamus Cahill.

One of two finalists for the handler, a clerical error saw him undergo an erroneous name change to ‘Moments Thought’ just before the Derby, and connections can be forgiven for having had more than one or two of those this week.  

The heaviest dog remaining in the competition (despite shedding 0.7kg between his two races last week), he’s been ultra-consistent and his deft trapping has allowed him to clear potential hazards on his inside.

He surprised many by overcoming noted pace influences, Danzey Exception and Pacey Bambi in the quarter-finals, and he was to repeat the dose in the semi-finals against Droopys Buick and Bruisers Bullet. 

It will be a tough for him to get a run at the rails but he’s a dog that has looked particularly tenacious during this competition. Cahill last had a Derby finalist back in 2002 when Call Me Baby finished second to rank outsider, Allen Gift. Could this dog go one better?  

3 CLARES ROCKET 

Wbk d Confident Rankin – Lemon Madrid (Jun 14)

Trainer: Graham Holland (Ire)

Owner: Full-House-Syndicate

Fastest calculated time: 28.83 (24/6/17) 

Five out of five so far and a hot favourite to take first prize.

2016 proved a golden year on the track for Clares Rocket with victory in the Champion Stakes at Shelbourne Park, and a complete rout in the Produce Stakes at Clonmel.

With such strong form, the bookmakers were compelled to install him at single digits for the English Derby until he was sensationally abducted from his kennel. Thankfully returned unharmed, his preparations for Towcester have been carried out with military precision, and he has lodged at Nick Savva’s Dunstable kennels for some time. 

Defeats at short prices in two Trial stakes (including one to Tyrur Shay) saw him drift in the ante-post market but he’s yet to put a foot wrong when it’s mattered. 

He has made very light work of the highly touted pair of Priceless Brandy and Bruisers Bullet during the competition, and while revenge over Tyrur Shay in the semi-finals was no surprise, the fact he did so with the fastest sectional of the Derby was.

Graham Holland’s dog would be odds-on for glory were he in the red jacket again but will be quite so effective from this draw? On sectionals, it’s no certainty that he can clear the inside runners though he has moved off right at the rise of the traps. Should he emerge unscathed at the first bend, he is capable of settling this race quickly.        

4 ASTUTE MISSILE

Bk d Kinloch Brae – China Doll (Aug 14)

Trainer: Seamus Cahill

Owner: Astute Electronics

Fastest calculated time: 28.98 (24/6/17)

Known as ‘Karlow Melody’ when trained in Ireland by Henry Kelly, Astute Missile appeared to have a future over slightly further and he actually beat Tyrur Shay (then racing as ‘Coolio’) in the EHS Catering 575 Final at Shelbourne Park.  

Pickings have been a little slimmer since joining Seamus Cahill, and after a campaign that saw him tried over six bends, he gave connections a hint that he retained some of his ability during heats of the Arc at Swindon. 

The Derby is all about qualification and the son of Kinloch Brae has reached the final without winning a single round. That in itself would not be unique as the Bruno Berwick-trained Salad Dodger managed to do so and win the main event in 2014.      

A resolute sort, he did well to survive significant crowding during the third round and he will come into the final having flashed out in his fastest sectional last Saturday.  

That was the second time he had given chase to Clares Rocket and while it is hard to see him getting revenge on that rival, he is a far better dog than his price implies.     

5 TYRUR SHAY (m)

Wbe d Big Daddy Cool – Black Eyed Boss (Oct 14)

Trainer: P J Fahy (Ire)

Owner: P J Fahy

Fastest calculated time: 28.62 (9/6/17)

PJ Fahy and his ‘Tyrur’ prefix are synonymous with success in his native Ireland and the renowned owner-breeder bids to send out a first English Derby winner having tried for so many years with a host of his well-known stars.   

Given Fahy’s high profile, Tyrur Shay came into the competition a little under the radar but the big prices were quietly snaffled as the son of Big Daddy Cool displayed an immediate aptitude for the Towcester circuit. He was to serve notice of what was to come when lowering the colours of Clares Rocket in a Trial Stakes in May. 

The second round saw him entering the Derby reckoning by sensationally demolishing the track record. Re-seeded middle, he flew out of the boxes in a sectional of 5.15 seconds and delivered a masterclass on a surface that was unusually slow.  

Such brilliance hasn’t been replicated since, but his ability to stay on from off the pace has separated him from many. No stranger to this style of racing in Ireland, he poached a quarter-final victory from the most unpromising of positions.  

Well held by Clares Rocket in the semi-finals, can the combination of a week’s rest and a different make-up produce a different result?  

6 MURRYS ACT (w)

Bk d Tullymurry Act – Brave Meave (Mar 15)

Trainer: Kevin Boon

Owner: Kevin Boon

Fastest calculated time:  29.09 (1/6/17) 

If this were the FA Cup, the Kevin Boon kennel would be one of the minnows. An analogy that would sit well with a man who had managed Kings Lynn FC before switching his attentions to four-legged athletes. 

This is Boon’s first Derby finalist after just five years of holding a licence, and as has been typical throughout his career, his dogs have invariably been underestimated against the more established names.   

Priced at 150/1 with Sky Bet ahead of the Derby, the odds compilers can be forgiven to have not realised just how smart the form of his first round victory over Carn Brea would turn out to be. 

Second in the second round, and third on his next two visits, Murrys Act had reportedly showed Boon the stresses and strains that this rigorous event can entail. These, however, were nowhere to be seen when the hare was on the move as he popped out smartly and clung on to qualify for the showpiece.

A Derby winner always has a story behind it and the last remaining wide seed will have to produce a career best to win it. That said, his trainer is insistent that he could be a player if securing a clear run and who are we to argue? 

Verdict 5-3-1

Draws often win races and TYRUR SHAY can atone for his defeat in the semi-finals.

PJ Fahy’s decision to switch to a middle seeding has proved a masterstroke and if getting a clear run, his finishing speed can see him pick off the pacesetters.

Clares Rocket would have been impossible to oppose if drawn in the red jacket but Hiya Butt and Droopys Acrobat are two very fast dogs to clear.

Astute Missile and Murrys Act seem up against it on figures though the former has not been disgraced in defeat and could outrun his odds.