With the Star Sports/ARC/LPS Derby entry now in, there is an opportunity to weigh up some of the facts and figures associated with it prior to Friday’s first round draw.
1) The total entry of 209 appears almost perfect for the first restricted entry Derby in more than 30 years.
Last year, Towcester received 160 entries, of which only 154 went into the draw and 151 went to traps.
Withdrawals are inevitable which would suggest that a sizeable number of the 17 reserves will have an opportunity to take part with a minimal number of empty traps and equal qualification opportunities for all.
2) Prior to any withdrawals, and with reserves on stand-by for all three seedings, there are 116 railers, 53 middles and 23 wide seeds.
This means that 20 railers will be drawn in trap four. 12 middle seeds will draw trap four and 32 will get trap five. 9 middle seeds will be drawn in stripes, as well as the 23 wide seeds.
3) Graham Holland has the most runners of any trainer: 11. In total there are 44 Irish trained including 7 for recent Scottish Derby winning trainer Pat Buckley.
Paul Young and Liz McNair have the highest number of UK based runners with eight apiece. The McNair group are all British bred and include six members of the same King Eden/Skate On litter.
Derby winning trainer Kevin Hutton sends four to the first round. Other handlers looking to add to previous wins include Mark Wallis (6) Seamus Cahill (4) and Paul Hennessy (5).
4) 28 of this year’s entries contested the 2018 equivalent at Towcester.
Noelles Phelpso, Salacres Vincent and Jelly Flood all exited at the quarter final stage.
Innocent Times, Wildfire Legend and Oi Oi Penalty were all eliminated from the same semi final with Rising Brandy exiting in the other eliminator.
Dorotas Wildcat and Droopys Verve went on to finish first and second in the final.
Which leads to some more interesting comparisons over the comparative Derby distances between the big two:
Dorotas Wildcat- best 3 race/trial times
| Towcester | 28.79 (N) | 28.85 (N) | 28.90 (-05) |
| Nottingham | 29.22 (+30) | 29.22 (+30) | 29.33 (+20) |
Droopys Verve- best 3 race/trial times
| Towcester | 28.76 (N) | 28.87 (-10) | 28.88 (N) |
| Nottingham | 29.44 (+20) | 29.45 (+30) | 29.46 (+20) |
On Wildcat times, the would appear to be something like a 40 spot difference between the two venues. Verve has very little Nottingham form in comparison, though he was 10 spots slower than Kevin Hutton’s dog in last year’s Eclipse semis and was beaten a length by the same dog in the final.
