To win, or even reach the final of the Ladbrokes (Monmore) Puppy Derby, is among the ultimate lines of form on the CV of any promising young hound.
With the start of the 2019 event just over a week away, how did the careers map out for the 2018 finalists?
For the Matt Dartnall trained pair, Rising Brandy (1st) and Brinkleys Poet (3rd), the fates have been very different.
Rising Brandy switched straight to Towcester after Monmore and was one of the stars of the 2018 Star Sports English Greyhound Derby.
He beat Dorotas Wildcat in the first round, exchanged wins and losses against Bruisers Bullet in the next two rounds, clocking 28.91 in the third round.
He won his quarter final and was rated a 9-4 chance in his semi final when pulling a shoulder ligament behind Droopys Verve.
He didn’t race again for seven months but went on to reach the final of the Olympic where he finished fifth. He hasn’t appeared again since.
Matt said: “He is in good order. He has been checked over and his bloods are good too. The target is the Derby. I decided not miss the Winter Derby because I want to risk picking up any niggles before then. I may look for a small race for him before it starts.”
Brinkley Poet stamped the quality of the form by switching to Kinsley and going unbeaten (22 lengths aggregate) in the Betfred Gymcrack and setting a new 26.95 track record for the 462 metres.
In May, he switched to Crayford, won a £750 final over the 380 metre course and set a new track record of 22.85 (+10).
In July, the black picked up the £7,500 RPGTV Select Stakes. He failed by half a length to reach the final of the Sussex Cup and then returned to Monmore. After a 27.96 neck victory in the semi finals of the Gold Cup, he chipped a bone in his wrist in the semi finals and was retired to stud.
Droopys Verve finished between the Dartnall pair at Monmore and also then headed to Towcester.
Angela Harrison’s black clocked 28.76 over the Derby course in the second round. He won his quarter and semi final and was made the 7-4f for the decider but finished a length and a half behind Dorotas Wildcat.
In July, Verve set a new Dundalk 550 track record when landing the International. He returned to win the All England Cup, finish second to Wildcat in the Eclipse and third in the Laurels.
Verve has since run two impressive sprint trials at Newcastle, though plans are still fluid as to his next races.
Assistant trainer Jimmy Wright said: “He will have a 480 at Newcastle tonight (Thursday) and we want him in the Trainers Championship team. He will definitely go for the English Derby, but we are undecided about the Steel City Cup and the Scottish Derby.”
Ruthless Robbie began his career in A9 at Henlow for Jason Bloomfield and famously turned over Droopys Verve at 25-1 in the Monmore semi finals.
In hindsight, that would prove the pinnacle of his career.
He ran once at Henlow in an A2 graded race and broke a hock in an open at Towcester.
After a lay-off he returned to run graded and ran four races, winning an A4 before breaking down again.
Jason said: “He never fully recovered from the Towcester injury so we decided to call it a day. He was re-homed by my partner Kelly.”
Bubbly Roger has had a stop-start career since his fifth place at Monmore last March.
Paul Young’s dog has contested 20 open races since then, winning one at Hove (515) and one at Henlow (550). He recently tackled the Crayford 714m course but didn’t stay.
He is due back over 515m in an open at Hove this evening.
Brinkleys Twirl, was trained by Mark Wallis when finishing last at Monmore but won a number of opens for him, including the puppy division of the Trainers Championship meeting.
She joined Barry O’Sullivan and contested a series of opens at Central Park and Hove without winning any.
Barry said: “We just couldn’t keep her sound, as far as I know she is back in Ireland in the breeding paddocks.”
In fact, Twirl contested two races at Dundalk at the end of last, finishing last in both, but has not reappeared in 2019.
