CENTRAL PARK has withdrawn from the race to stage the Greyhound Derby next year – and has thrown its weight behind Towcester’s challenge to host the Classic.
Roger Cearns, promoter at the Kent track, said: “I’m absolutely prepared to stage the Derby at some point – and believe we could make a fantastic go of it here at Central Park.
“We have a safe and banked running track which regularly hosts the top greyhounds and the best trainers, plus have the facilities and the space, including a sizeable car park. Sittingbourne itself is served by HS1 trains direct from London.
“I also know how to throw a great party – and that’s what the Greyhound Derby should be – a chance to celebrate what a great sport we have. We could serve up to 800 meals in one evening.
“Unfortunately, with the decision taken to stage an earlier Derby this year to avert a clash with the Euros, there’s just too many doubts about whether we could stage the Derby with crowds given how long the pandemic will take to sort. We know a vaccine is being rolled out, but that’s going to take a while – we could be looking to the spring at least.
“The Derby takes a lot of planning and we cannot begin to think about it, knowing for much of the start of the year we could still be racing behind closed doors with many furloughed staff.”
Cearns revealed a substantial six-figure sponsorship deal had underwritten the bid to host the Derby, but continued doubts about crowds make the decision “commercially problematic at this point” for the Kent track and its desire to protect its contracted trainers and kennel strength.
With over 1,200 car park spaces and the facilities and license to cater for a crowd of almost 5,000, including hospitality boxes and areas, Central Park is among just a few greyhound tracks in the UK able to host such an occasion.
But the prospect of not being able to use the facilities he has at his disposal has forced Cearns’s hand – and he has reluctantly withdrawn from the GBGB’s Derby consultation process for 2021 which leaves Nottingham and Towcester as the two remaining options.
However his support for the Greyhound Derby remains undimmed.
Cearns has a close affinity with the Classic given his family built Wimbledon Stadium, former home of the Derby, and wants to see the introduction of Derby trial stakes UK-wide which offer free entry to the premier Classic for winners of these.
“They’re a great idea and have worked well in the past,” he added. “I know here at Central Park we attracted huge publicity when we staged trial stakes for the Irish Derby a few years back. We should be running these again for the English Derby.
“I’ve been in contact with Kevin Boothby (Towcester promoter) and have told him I would like to run some trial stakes here at Central Park should he get the Derby. I think these races help build the competition up and give owners and trainers the incentive of free entry.”
Cearns also said that, while his track was now out of the running for the Derby, he is actively working on staging high-profile meetings in 2021, including if possible improving prize-money for their main four-bend event, the Kent Derby.
In addition to the three hurdles showpiece events the track owns as the ‘home of hurdling’ – the Springbok, Champion Hurdle and Grand National – the Trainers’ Championship meeting and a return of the Anglo-Irish International have been mooted as possibly being run at the venue next year.
