The Derby, Stayers Races, The Produce Stakes

First things first, and a big well done has to go to Kevin Hutton and the team for getting Screen Critic through to the William Hill Greyhound Derby Final. It takes a hell of a training feat to get a dog to the ‘big dance’, so congratulations. This week in greyhound racing must be one of the best for the connections of the finalists, knowing that the big race is coming up. What with the Derby Dinner etc., it makes for a terrific event. A lot of questions are asked about the Derby (more the actual home of the event, rather than the event itself), however it cannot be disputed that the competition captivates the greyhound fraternity. If (like moi) you were on him Ante post (first 6), then you can sit back and relax to watch the final! I must say, looking at the trap draw as I would any open race, you have to say he has the plum draw of the race (along with Sidaz Jack). I hope to do a full Derby night preview on this blog sometime in the week.

Back to things at home, and it’s been good to see a slight resurgence in the stayers division at Swindon. It seems nowadays that we’re having more and more stayers races, which makes for a much more interesting card. Variety is the spice of life, as they say, so it’s good to see this variation. The problem with maintaining two separate grades is that obviously the greyhounds have to be trialled over the trip before commencing racing. However, with the recent rule change going from 8 to 12 weeks being the time that you can be declared ‘out of time’ over a trip, this will certainly help keeping the races going.  Would more variety be accepted? Of course it would. Personally, I’d love to see graded racing over all the trips; however I understand how that can be difficult to keep up.

Of course, just round the corner now is the Produce Stakes, the biggest British Bred race in the calendar. I always look forward to the Produce, as it allows the smaller breeder to compete with the big boys to compete for a big prize. It’s a competition that always springs a few surprises, however it also brings together the best British breds in the country. In terms of our best local chance, I believe the best hope we have is with Fabulous Fusion, batting for the Nick Ralph kennel. She’ll have some competition, however, from several top class dogs including Johnny’s Boy. One big question I’ve asked is whether we might see Mr. Lister and Golden Wonder make an appearance?