A sad reminder that ‘His Smuggness’ Nathan Corden (+£150.83) still leads the field. It’s bad enough for the rest of us just being aware of it. But for those of you who have to face him in the paddock – you should have tried harder!
Nathan Corden
Vixons Lad (PH2 T2) a cheeky tenner on an outsider but I can see potential 1st bend issues for the other five early paced dogs in the race. £10 win
Coolavanny Chick (DHt1 T6) going for a Nottingham hattrick. She should be in front at the 1st bend and should be strong enough to stay ahead of the chasing pack £40 win
Lenson Bocko (DHt2 T2) I think Southwood Jet would prefer to be drawn on his inside and thus Bocko might just hold the 5 and 6 up at the 1st bend. I think Bocko is due a big run and tonight could be it £40 win
Finally a throwaway £10 treble just in case!
Rob Crawford
It’s Derby quarter final day, normally I would have been up to walk the dogs, seen a beautiful sunrise and thinking about what time to leave for this evenings racing, all this before 5:15 in the morning, but this is 2020, the year so good they named it twice! The 2020 reality of Derby quarter final day is I have managed to get the dogs to stir (but not get up), the central heating is on, the sun might or might not make an appearance in a couple of hours and we are all trying to decipher the current guidelines between living in a tier 3 area and wanting to go to a tier 2 area!
The one thing for sure is that there are connections up and down the land, will still be having sleepless nights, trainers will be wanting to get their race day preparation exactly right and owners will have been going over and over every inch of Derby trip in their minds, rerunning the previous rounds, anticipating every step, twist and turn, hoping and dare I say praying that their greyhound comes off safely, in the first three, to go one step further and into the draw for next week’s semi-final.
Enough of my romanticising and onto my selections, and the first of our quarter finals and Noel Hehir’s Coolavanny Chick (DH1 T6), she is one of three bitches to make it this far and she is also only one of three wide seeds in the quarter finals. For me the latter is the key, along with her blistering early pace and whilst others will be sorting themselves out at the first bend she will be away and gone. On a personal note the more I see of this May 18 bitch, the more I admire her, she shows tremendous heart and spirit.
Who said no more romanticising about picks? Poppycock to them! We don’t get into Greyhound racing for the money or glamour, we do it because it is in our soul or this case in our DNA. Richard Rees’s Southwood Jet (DHt2 T5), what must be Britain’s leading chance left in the competition and has a real opportunity of going all the way. Although the draw might not be ideal, he has done everything that has been asked of him so far in this year’s Derby and has bags and bags of early pace. Yes he does has last years Irish Derby champion on his inside, which obviously is a danger, but Southwood Jet has shown tremendous track craft around Colwick Park, which should be more than enough to get him through. I would like to think that at eight minutes to nine, Philip Rees, senior and junior, will be together looking down from somewhere, as proud as punch, that Richard is keeping the proud legacy of Burhill Kennels alive.
Quarter Final 3 looks fairly open and you could make a strong case for a few of the dogs, and the fact that we have been told that we can only make up to 3 selections, means that I will be passing this race over to concentrate on the fourth quarter final of the Greyhound Derby brought to you in association with Star Sports and ARC and for this race Pat Buckley!
How is your luck? You manage to get 3 greyhounds into the quarter finals, unbeaten through all of their previous rounds and they all get drawn together! But I think that Pat Buckley has a realistic chance of a one, two, three in the fourth quarter final. My selection goes to, Deerjet Sydney (DH4 T1), at last he the plumb draw of his favoured rails box. I can see Rockmount Ozzy in trap 2 going slightly towards the middle to open things up nicely, allowing Sydney in trap 1, to get to that all important first corner in the lead for a make all victory. £100 treble.
Paul Gebhard
Can’t help feeling that there’s going to be a turn up for the books in at least one of these quarter finals because of the abundance of dogs that are drawn further away from the rails than would be ideal, so, the one I’ve come down on from that point of view at a decent price is Antigua Boy (DHt1 T3), lightly raced he could find a fair bit of time if he gets a clear run, £20 win
The “forgotten” dog of the Derby is surely Lenson Bocko (DHt2 T2) £30 win
Glengar Bale (Dht4 T5) might just be nicely drawn here £40 win £10 treble
Peter Harnden
Ballydoyle Valor (DHt3 T1) all three have absolutely plot draws.
Coolavanny Chick (DHt1 T6)
Deanridge Sirius (PHt4 T1) £100 treble
Patrick Janssens
I have Knocknaboul Syd (Dht4 T4) really like this traps great early and stays the other 2 runners off Pat are drawn well as well but I don’t think trap 1 at Nottingham is a great draw as most dogs don’t seem to come away so I have it all on Syd £100 win
Rab McNair
Coolavanny Chick (DHt1 T6) Wolfe should make the race for her by moving across. Lead at the first and won’t give it up
Swift Lettuce (DHt3 T2) I think he can lead up the two on either side. Four, five and six will get in each others way. Lead at the first and hold on
Deerjet Sydneys (DHt4) Will lead up, seize the rail at the first bend, game over.
3 x £25 doubles, £25 treble
David Mitchell
Deanridge Sirius (PHt4 T1) Came into the Derby on the back of a four and three quarter length victory in a sharp time around Nottingham. There was many that thought this dog would go deep into the competition but unfortunately he ran into trouble in the first round. He’s got a great draw tonight bang on the rail and with a clear run he should put this race to bed. £25 win
Blue Tick George (DHt2 T1) – George has came out of last week in good form and I have to say we were delighted to see him bag the red jacket tonight. He hasn’t exploded from the boxes in this competition but as highlighted by Mark Pierrepont last week he is the fastest dog from the third bend home. With the draw to help tonight I’m hoping he can get a nice clear run at the first turn. If he can hold on to them early he can push the button and blow them away to the line. £25 win
Ballydoyle Valor (DHt3 T1) The draw has been kind to this dog tonight and looking at his run from box one a couple of weeks ago you’d be hard pressed to take him on here. The Graham Holland team are flying and I’m sure this boy can give them something to shout about for the rest of the competition. £25 win £25 treble
Steve Nash
Latest standings bring back memories of school reports. “Must try harder”, “easily distracted”, “couldn’t tip sh*t off a shovel”. Actually the last one was my Dad’s but credit to him for spotting such talent at an early age.
So with a need to get back in the game, extra homework has resulted in the following.
Deanridge Sirius (P Ht4) (named after the “Dog Star” in the night sky) is nicely drawn and will be approaching peak fitness having been laid out for the event proper – note the weight coming off. Ran a good solo last weekend in prep for the Plate and trap 1 swings it in his favour over highly respected Ballyard Ricki.
Antigua Romeo (DHt3) could go well from a midfield draw. Just missed out on qualifying after a rough ride behind Gonzo in his Derby heat. Useful 29.58 prep trial before that, and a Derby quarter finalist last year. Good chance on best form.
Deerjet Sydney’s (DHt4) pace down the back straight last week really caught my eye. Obvious to all that a red jacket is tailor made. Admittedly it’s risky (or just ‘stupid boy’ territory – see intro) taking on his very talented Pat Buckley trained kennelmates, but he’s improving through the event. Hopefully a cracking race to complete quarter final night.
3 x £30 win doubles. £10 win treble
Mark Pierrepont
Pat Rosney
I’m going for a Ginger double (which is probably the first time that sentence has ever been used on this website – Ed)
Catunda Logan (PHt1 T3) Better draw this week in three and think he can lead all the way
Swanley Chick (Dht3 T4) Ran the track much better last week loved the way she drove into the bends £40 win £20 double
Mark Wallis
We move into the latter stages of the Derby and we are 3 races away from glory and all 24 connections can dream of that moment and the trophy is within touching distance, we have one runner left in Antigua Boy and I see no reason why that dream can’t stay alive in a competitive 1st quarter final though the draw in trap 3 is not ideal and we will watch with interest without having a bet.
There’s no getting away from the fact that Troy Firebird (Dht2 T6) has a plot draw in the second quarter final. £30 win
While the third quarter final has a serious amount of early pace but whichever way you look at the race you can’t get away from Ballydoyle Valor (DHt3 T1) who looks like it can do it from both ends.
In the last quarter final Pat Buckley must be cursing his luck seeing all three of his superstars drawn in the same race and my personal preference is for Deerjet Sydney’s (DHt4) £30 win £10 win treble
Jimmy Wright
Troy Firebird (DHt2 T6) great make up on the outside go round handy and win, been running well in the competition so far £40 win
Swift Lettuce (Dht3 T2) good draw decent start go round handy and win £40 win £20 double
