When you are striving for your first Trainers Championship title, the arrival in the kennel of a dog who will win a Cat 1 final roughly six weeks later, is a huge welcome bonus.

On Wednesday night, Kilara Lion did just that when taking the 74th RPGTV East Anglian Derby Final for Patrick Janssens. Drawn red, Lion was reasonably away, went into second spot along the backstraight and then seized the lead off the last as Droopys Carat swung off. Lion crossed the winning line in 27.62, an identical time to his first round win.

Lion joined Janssens in late July from Alex Hopkins. He had won six of his 14 opens and was being lined up for a tilt at the Ladbrokes Gold Cup when Patrick took the call.

“It was the day before Alex was due to have her baby and her dad Craig said, ‘this is a real good dog, see what you can do with him’. I trialled him at Monmore and I was a bit disappointed with him. He only did 28.43 and he wasn’t well the next day. I phoned Craig and told him I thought we would have to skip Monmore and bring him back for Yarmouth.

“His health soon improved and I gave him a sprint at Yarmouth. I was really impressed. He railed so well and did 16.56 for the sprint. I had planned to give him two 462s, but he went so well in the first – 28.17 on what I thought was a slow track – that I abandoned that idea and told Craig I wanted to enter him in an open at Monmore.

“He ran second, but ran well behind a very good local dog, Jazzers Man. We took him back to Yarmouth and he won the fastest first round heat of the Derby, ran very well to qualify in the semis, and the final draw was perfect for him.

“He is such a good bend runner, he races through them. He will go to Nottingham and is the sort of dog who might surprise a few people. Lion has raced four times for me for two wins and two seconds. He is very genuine and a good tracker and don’t be surprised if he doesn’t get to the latter stages at Nottingham.”

Patrick now finds himself with an advantage of 132 points over his old boss Mark Wallis. If he is favourite to land his first title he certainly won’t concede it, though he agree he has his best ever kennel.

He said: “Given what has happened this year, it will never have been more important to win Cat 1 finals. We have been in five so far this year and won four (Golden Jacket, Golden Sprint, Sussex Cup, East Anglian Derby) with a second in the Steel City Cup. We have a good strike rate, considering we had so many young dogs, and have three in the Champion Stakes Final on Friday.”

The Belgian only expects to field three runners in the Star Sports Derby: Bockos Doomie, Kilara Lion and Lenson Whelan.

Doomie produced a comparatively poor trial (for him) at Nottingham on Wednesday with a 29.93 run.

His trainer said: “He hasn’t won there (three attempts) and I would prefer the Derby was run at Hove to be honest. He has a 29.70 and I know he is a much better dog now. He is capable of at least a 29.50 but he needed the run on Wednesday. He had only had one sprint since Monmore (August 22) and I expect him to get better every time he goes around the place. I would plan for him to get fitter and stronger with every run.”

So what else is on the agenda?

Patrick said: “I am very lucky to have some very good dogs at the moment. Skilful Sandie will be aimed at the Kent St Leger and the St.Leger with a few other events, like the stayers races on Derby Final night. I don’t like to hype my dogs, but I think she is very very special. She has all the ability and the heart of a lion. Just look at her record, it is incredible.

“I have Doolin Princess and Goldies Naim trialling for the Gold Collar. Princess, who is a sister to Glengar Bale, won the maiden final at Central Park in 28.94 on Sunday and is the fastest greyhound for 550 and 575 yards at Limerick this year. Naim is only really A1 at Central Park but if he takes to the track and stays, you never know how far it could take him.

“We have Lenson Austin in the Three Steps semi finals. His strike rate in Ireland wasn’t particularly impressive, but I think he was a dog between distances. Over here he should be able to find many more races to suit his ideal distance and I expect him to show big improvement in his coming races.

“We also have an interesting runner for the Maiden Derby at Henlow, Bockos Jon Jo. He has a 28.10 trial on his card at Shelbourne Park and has bags of early pace.”

Patrick Janssens and his wife Cheryl with Kilara Lion and the magnificent East Anglian Derby trophy, now in its 74th year Yarmouth 16th September 2020
Photo: © Steve Nash