Droopys Verve – one of the greatest greyhounds of his generation – has died following a freak accident.
Assistant trainer Jimmy Wright said: “He ate his breakfast yesterday and brought it all up. We took him to the vets where they carried out tests over 12 hours and he died while he was there.
“It turns out that he had a twisted lung. It is very rare, I had never heard of it. We don’t know how it happened. It could have been in a trial, out in the paddock, or just jumping onto his bed.
“We are absolutely devastated. It comes so soon after losing Droopys Reel and greyhounds of this ability just don’t come along many times in a lifetime.”
Owned by the Conlon family and trained by Angela Harrison, Verve was not a particularly lucky dog, though there was no doubting his outstanding ability. The son of Loughteen Blanco first came to national attention when runner-up (ev.f) in the 2018 Ladbrokes Puppy Derby at Monmore. He clocked 28.76 in the third round and won the fastest semi final of the 2018 Star Sports Greyhound Derby at Towcester but finished second (7-4f) behind Dorotas Wildcat in the final.
His greatest UK success was in the 2018 All England Cup at Newcastle though he had previously landed the Dundalk International where he set a new 550 yard track record.
In 2019 the black won heats (28.61) and semis of the RPGTV Scottish Derby from trap one but drew the orange jacket in the final and finished third. Verve recorded 29.14 (500m) in the third round of the 2019 Star Sports Derby at Nottingham but was eliminated in the quarter finals.
The end of 2019 ended in disappointment due to a niggly toe injury but the four year old had looked to be somewhere near back to his best in recent trials at Newcastle.
