The runners take the last in the Champion Hurdle
The runners take the last in the Champion Hurdle

2017 Greyhound Derby blog


Our man Will Hayler was live (from the office) to blog the premier four-legged sporting action.

Click here for our lightning-quick greyhounds fast results page!

2120: Time to wrap things up. Congratulations to winning connections - and congratulations if you somehow found the winner at 28/1. The drinks are on you!

2112: It woudn't be a Greyhound Derby without an emotional story on the winner's podium and this winner comes at the end of a terrible few weeks for trainer Seamus Cahill. But it's a great result for the trainer, based in Kent and attached to Hove, and one of the most popular and successful handlers in the game - but without a Derby winner to his name until now!

2110: Is this is the biggest-priced winner of the Greyhound Derby ever? You certainly don't see many going off at 28/1 - and winning!

2107: It was trap one, Hiya Butt, who led the field going into the third bend, but the winner literally shoved him aside to go up his inner. Very brave. Then Tyrur Shay looked sure to pick up the leader 50metres from the line, but suddenly marginally checked wide to throw down his challenge. He just needed another 10metres.

2105: Yes, he'd been running well, but there wasn't much in Astute Missile's CV that could have made you think this would be on the cards. Third in the Henlow Gold Cup, semi-finalist in the Arc at Swindon, Romford maiden Open winner. It didn't all scream out 'greatest dog in training'. What a game.

2101: Astute Missile, beaten in every single round of the competition, and even beaten in his pre-tournament trial, but whose strength saw him qualify every time, chose the ideal time to ping the lids and just hold off the running-on Tyrur Shay. Agony for 33/1 ante-post backers. But joy for those who slung a couple of quid on 'whatever the biggest-priced one is'.

2059: IT'S A BOILOVER! ASTUTE MISSILE (T4) WINS AT 28/1!

2058: HERE WE GO THEN - THE HARE IS RUNNING!

2056: Excellent crowd at Towcester tonight - well over 5,000 apparently, not including those who have just gone to try and meet Alex Hammond.

2054: Worth noting now that Sky Bet are offering a PRICE BOOST on favourite Clares Rocket in this race. He's available at 7/4 if you click now - the best price you'll find with the big firms. If he gets out and turns clear down the back straight, he surely won't be caught, will he?

2052: Tyrur Shay (who, fact fans, used to be known as Coolio before he had his name changed) has only been beaten once when wearing the orange jacket and the decision to hand him a middle seed has proved an inspired one. He smashed the track record when winning in 28.72s in the second round, but will he get the clean run he probably needs to get close to that figure again tonight?

2047: If you're following Ian in, you could be for some thrills and spills as it's hard to believe that Tyrur Shay (from trap 5) will be turning anywhere nearer than third at best around the first bend. He will need all of his middle pace to get to the front in time for the winning post. It's going to be one of those classic Greyhound Derby showdowns where early pace takes on strength and power.

2043: On to the main event and if you're looking for the winner, head no further than Ian Brindle's guide to the final - this is the man who gave us Tyrur Shay at 33/1 at the very start of the competition. If you're on each-way, you've already paid out with all of the bookies offering first six place terms. Find out here what he thinks of each of the six dogs in the final.

2040: What a cracking race that was. Aayamza Breeze in trap 1 grabs the game trap 2 right on the line, who had fought off a series of challengers to that point.

2036: The celebrities are being wheeled out on Sky Sports. First it's some fella from Made In Essex, then it's Alex Hammond and now it's John McCririck. It hasn't taken him long to start reminscing about the glory days at White City.

2034: At 906m, the Dorando is the longest race on the card tonight and it should be a cracking sight. Bruisers Bullet's trainer Mark Wallis says his representative, Ribble Atom in trap five, ideally needs another circuit!

2032: The final race before the Derby is the Dorando Marathon, which is an eight-dog event - something Towcester have reintroduced to the sport. Any dinosaurs out there, like me, might remember the good old days of eight-dog races at Hackney and Monmore on the BAGS service some 25 years ago. Well, Towcester have been adding them to their cards for the last few months now, and personally I love them.

2024: Furthermore, in doing 28.78s, who is to say that he won't end up clocking up a faster time than the winner of the big race himself manages in half an hour's time?

2022: A roar goes up as Bruisers Bullet gets a dream start from trap two. Having hit the front around the first bend, he was simply never going to get caught. He extends ever further clear all the way around to win. One for the clever punters who backed him in from 2/1 to 7/4. What would I know, eh?

2018: Only two more races to go before the big one. Next up is the 8.21 - the Invitational. One of the leading fancies for the Derby, Bruisers Bullet, gets the chance to make amends after his luckless elimination in the semis last Saturday. But I've watched these kind of dogs go off at short prices and get beaten in these kind of compensation-seeking contests so many times. I'll stick with the early pace of the one dog - Pacey Bambi.

2012: Some really emotional interviews tonight on the winner's podium and this is another. "If people don't support nights like this, they don't deserve to be in greyhound racing," says kennelhand Ian, and he's right, there has been some crabbing of the new venue going on in some circles within the sport. Greyhound racing as we have known it in the past is struggling - there's no two ways about it. These big gala events must be supported rather than criticised.

2008: Nice to see a dog do the business all the way from the back - Calico Ranger picks his way through the field to win going away around the outside from the five box. A great result for trainer Carol Weatherall, based at Perry Barr.

2000: Next up is the Youngsters event at 8.04. Plenty of these got through at least a couple of rounds of the big one itself and get their chance for compensation.

1955: An interview reveals that Russelena Reggie was the archetypal gift dog, having been given to his new owners by a trainer at Sheffield struggling to find the key to him. What a lovely game it is, sometimes.

1950: Proceedings began with a tough first hour for the bookies (hooray!) since Sky Sports 5 came on air, with wins for three well-backed favourites in the Derby Plate, the Champion Hurdle and the Anglo-Irish Invitational.

But things have just taken a turn in the opposite direction as unfancied Henlow-trained dog Russelena Reggie has pinged the lids and made all to take the Stayers Final (7.48) at a meaty price.

He had more than five lengths to make up on the two dog on their previous meeting a week ago, but the smart break has made all the difference. He's now won nine of his 27 starts.

1945: Good evening and welcome to Towcester. Well, not quite. But you get the idea. Perhaps you're not a huge fan of greyhound racing, but you should be tonight, because a) there's virtually no other sport of interest happening and b) it's Greyhound Derby night.

If you haven't been following the greyhounds scene carefully, you may be surprised to see that the Derby has moved from its spiritual home at Wimbledon. Demolition work started only days after the track staged its last meeting earlier this year.

But it's the new track at Towcester that has stepped into the breach and the race also has new sponsors in the shape of Star Sports. The Derby is dead, but the Derby is alive and well. Three cheers for those who have kept it afloat.

The big race goes off in little more than an hour's time at 2056(BST) and it's live on Sky Sports 5. Stick it on now - come on, if you're reading this, you probably don't have any better offers.

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