2018 English Greyhound Derby

The 2018 Star Sports Greyhound Derby took place during May and June with the final being held on 2 June 2018 at Towcester Greyhound Stadium. The winner Dorotas Wildcat won £175,000 and was trained by Kevin Hutton, owned by Hutton and Dave Usher and bred by Jim Gurney.[1]

2018 English Greyhound Derby
The betting ring during the Derby final
Location	Towcester Greyhound Stadium
Start date	3 May
End date	2 June
Total prize money	£175,000 (winner)

It is the second time that the event was held at Towcester.[2][3]

Final Result

Dorotas Wildcat

[4][1] At Towcester (over 500 metres): Winner £175,000

Pos	Name of Greyhound	Breeding	Trap	Sectional	Race comment	SP	Time	Trainer
1st	Dorotas Wildcat	Ballymac Vic - Droopys Daneel	3	5.15	Early Pace, Soon Led	2-1	28.85	Kevin Hutton (Towcester)
2nd	Droopys Verve	Loughteen Blanco - Droopys Cyclone	4	5.24	SAw, EP, Ran On	7-4f	28.98	Angela Harrison (Newcastle)
3rd	Dorotas Vic	Ballymac Vic - Droopys Daneel	5	5.18	Quick Away, Wide	20-1	29.03	Charlie Lister (Doncaster)
4th	Bruisers Bullet	Droopys Cain - Clover Bride	2	5.23	Ran On Late	4-1	29.07	Mark Wallis (Towcester)
5th	Bombers Bullet	Droopys Cain - Headford Hoe	1	5.34	Slow Away, Clear Run	10-1	29.25	Mark Wallis (Towcester)
6th	Whoops Jack	Jacksajem - Whoopsadaisy	6	5.22	Wide, Clear Run	5-1	29.36	Peter Cronin (Ireland)

Final Distances

1½, ¾, ½, 2¼, 1¼ (lengths) 0.08 sec = one length

Quarter finals

Heat 1 (May 22, £1,000) Pos Name SP Time 1st Borna Gin (Buckley) 5-2 29.32 2nd Wildfire Legend (Young) 10-1 29.38 3rd Oi Oi Upenalty (Keightley) 9-2 29.39 4th Crossfield Will (Cronin) 6-4f 29.40 5th Newinn Shadow (Lister) 8-1 29.50 6th Calico Brandy (Weatherall) 6-1 29.54

Heat 2 (May 22, £1,000) Pos Name SP Time 1st Dorotas Wildcat (Hutton) 4-7f 29.17 2nd Innocent Times (Matthews) 4-1 29.21 3rd Dorotas Vic (Lister) 10-1 29.32 4th Bubbly Bluebird (Wallis) 6-1 29.35 5th Alfies Prince (Denby) 16-1 29.40 6th King Elvis (McNair) 5-1 29.43

Heat 3 (May 22, £1,000) Pos Name SP Time 1st Droopys Verve (Harrison) 1-1f 28.88 2nd Bruisers Bullet (Wallis) 15-8 29.06 3rd Saleen Ash (Wallis) 16-1 29.19 4th Calico Ranger (Weatherall) 8-1 29.23 5th Droopys Dresden (Simmonds) 10-1 29.83 6th Karlow Scolar (Collett) 10-1 29.84

Heat 4 (May 22, £1,000) Pos Name SP Time 1st Rising Brandy (Dartnall) 10-11f 29.01 2nd Whoops Jack (Cronin) 3-1 29.32 3rd Bombers Bullet (Wallis) 9-4 29.37 4th Jelly Flood (Hutton) 16-1 29.38 5th Salacres Vincent (Harnden) 50-1 29.66 6th Noelles Phelpso (Mullins) 20-1 29.83

Semi finals

First Semi Final (May 26, £5,000) Pos Name of Greyhound SP Time Trainer 1st Droopys Verve 4-5f 28.91 Angela Harrison 2nd Bombers Bullet 9-2 29.25 Mark Wallis 3rd Dorotas Vic 16-1 29.49 Charlie Lister 4th Borna Gin 8-1 29.75 Pat Buckley 5th Saleen Ash 25-1 29.82 Mark Wallis 6th Rising Brandy 9-4 30.30 Matt Dartnall

Second Semi Final (May 26, £5,000) Pos Name of Greyhound SP Time Trainer 1st Whoops Jack 6-1 29.18 Peter Cronin 2nd Dorotas Wildcat 11-10f 29.19 Kevin Hutton 3rd Bruisers Bullet 2-1 29.28 Mark Wallis 4th Wildfire Legend 33-1 29.41 Paul Young 5th Innocent Times 9-2 29.42 Brendan Matthews 6th Oi Oi Upenalty 16-1 29.63 Hayley Keightley

Competition Review

The mandatory first round consisted of 26 heats, with only 35% of the field being eliminated, a percentage that included the 20-1 ante post favourite and All England Cup champion, Droopys Expert, Scottish Greyhound Derby champion The Other Reg and Irish star Clonbrien Hero. Whoops Jack impressed during the first set of heats winning in 29.33[5] and on the second night Droopys Verve (29.16) and Sporting Dave (29.29) stood out.[6] The final set of heats were the most impressive with wins for Bombers Bullet (29.08), Tyrur Harold (29.29) and Puppy Derby champion Magical Bale (29.07).[7]

Mark Wallis won four of the first eight heats of the second round with Bruisers Bullet going fastest in 29.05. Bombers Bullet, Whoops Jack and Sporting Dave all won well again but Magical Bale crashed out.[8] The remaining second round heats the following evening saw Dorotas Wildcat and Droopys Biker impress in times of 29.07 and 29.16 respectively. Tyrur Harold was eliminated.[9]

Bubbly Bluebird came to life on a fast track in the third round, becoming the first greyhound to break 29 seconds so far when defeating Bombers Bullet by a head in 28.94. This was followed by Irish hound Crossfield Will, Matt Dartnall's Rising Brandy and Dorotas Wildcat who all impressed winning in 28.81, 28.89 and 28.79 respectively. Sporting Dave and Droopys Biker were both eliminated before the final heat saw the youngster Droopys Verve win in 28.76 and maintain his record of finishing in the top two in every race that he had competed in so far.[10]

The real test during the Derby is the quick run from third round to quarter finals and Dorotas Wildcat passed the test with flying colours winning heat 2 in 29.17. This was then topped by Droopys Verve who won in a fast time of 28.88 defeating Bruisers Bullet by 2¼ lengths. Rising Brandy took heat 4 in 29.01.[11]

Droopys Verve impressed again in the semi finals defeating Bombers Bullet in 28.91. The race saw first bend bumping which left Dorotas Vic to claim the final qualifying spot. In the second semi final the early pace of Whoopys Jack ensured an Irish runner made the final, Dorotas Wildcat and Bruisers Bullet took the remaining final slots.[12]

In the final Dorotas Wildcat made a fast 5.15sec start, which saw him clear of the two greyhounds on his inside, he led all the way comfortably holding off the favourite Droopys Verve. In a clean final Dorotas Vic broke well and held on to third place, Bruisers Bullet ran on well for fourth, Bombers Bullet and Whoops Jack made poor starts and could not recover.[1]

See also

• 2018 UK & Ireland Greyhound Racing Year

References

1. "Derby Final meeting". Greyhound Board of Great Britain. Archived from the original on 2018-07-20. Retrieved 2018-06-02.
2. "Star Sports English Greyhound Derby Final 2018". Towcester Racecourse. Archived from the original on 2018-04-13. Retrieved 2018-04-12.
3. "LATEST BETTING: Star Sports Greyhound Derby". Star Sports.
4. "Wallis pair get traps one and two in Derby draw". Racing Post.
5. "First Round Review 1-9". Greyhound Star.
6. "First Round Review 10-18". Greyhound Star.
7. "First Round Review 19-26". Greyhound Star.
8. "Second Round Results". Greyhound Board of Great Britain.
9. "Second Round Results". Greyhound Board of Great Britain.
10. "Third Round Results". Greyhound Board of Great Britain.
11. "Quarter Final Results". Greyhound Board of Great Britain.
12. "Semi Final Results". Greyhound Board of Great Britain.