Saturday sees the third round of the Star Sports / TRC Greyhound Derby and it's the first time that we will see all of the remaining participants appearing in the one session.
As ever, qualification is the name of the game and with the top three finishers from each heat progressing into the quarter-finals, this is the point where connections sense the big prize sitting just on the horizon.
Holland duo in tie of the round
There’s no doubting the big match up of the round and that is between antepost favourites, Bockos Diamond and Cheap Sandwiches in Heat Four (20:06).
The Graham Holland pair famously finished first and second in last year’s Irish Derby final and the bookmakers chalk them up at a respective 1/2 and 2/1 to prevail in this contest.
Cheap Sandwiches has done nothing wrong to date and is unbeaten in the competition. Things were to pan out perfectly in round two as Boylesports Bob was modestly away from the traps and the son of Burgess Bucks was able to have the wide channel to himself.
However, it was Bockos Diamond that was to produce the star performance of that evening. He may have trapped out stickily in both the Juvenile and the first round of the Derby, but he got out on on this occasion and already had his rivals on the back foot after a mere four strides.
The Derby isn’t won on a flash run in the heats yet this performance justified everything that the hype around the dog had suggested. Currently as short as 9/4 in the outright market, he will be considerably shorter if backing that up this weekend.
28.51 seconds by Bockos Diamond
— Fergal O'Brien Racing (@FOBRacing) May 17, 2025
Serious wheels there #GreyhoundDerby2025 pic.twitter.com/8lLADep0rW
Pat delivering from wide post
In what is almost an embarrassment of riches, Holland also trains the third favourite in the competition and Bombay Pat has a favourable draw in Heat Two (19:28).
He has gone a little under the radar for many and his early pace on Saturday saw him deliver a knockout blow to Prince Naseem in the second fastest time of the round.
Droopys Plunge looks the obvious danger if he could reproduce his first-round effort while Bubbly Charger, who was third in the Kirby Memorial, is sure to have plenty of from the of the Champagne Club syndicate.
Freddie heads British challenge
With Wicky Ned and Proper Heiress already eliminated, the British challenge is already looking a little beleaguered and March On Freddie is shortest in the outright betting at around 14/1.
It would have been a shock had he not taken care of business last week but Heat Three (19:46) will be no cakewalk with reigning champion De Lahdedah and Ballinabola Joe in opposition.
The former could have been backed at 33/1 ahead of the Derby and he was a big springer in the market following his opening-round success. That said, he was very much second best to his younger rival when they faced off on Friday.
Liam Dowling’s De Lahdedah takes heat 14 of the #GreyhoundDerby2025 in a flying time of 28.50 pic.twitter.com/GRbNgugRRs
— GBGB (@GreyhoundBoard) May 9, 2025
Syd continues to put off retirement
Connections of Churchfield Syd have said that the veteran will be retiring next month, and we’ll see Richard Rees’ veteran in the final heat of the evening (21:15) where the layers have put in Irish raider, Solo Mio as favourite.
One of our ante-post picks, Barntick Bear, is also in that race and I’ve not given up on him just yet. He hasn’t had the luxury of an untroubled run in either of his first two outings and the door closed on him on Friday as he was about to make his move at the third bend.
Ladies' night
The bitches market has always been a keen betting heat and with a number of the more fancied runners out, it’s Faypoint Susie that has been putting rivals to the sword.
There’s nothing unusual in a Holland runner doing that, but this is the third year that we’ve seen her at Towcester and she is also already a mother.
She races in Heat Five (20:22) where among her opposition will be Droopys Aladdin, who is trained by former British Lion, Mike Burton, and second-round winners, Keefill Maverick and Romeo Tomcat.
Singalong Molly is likely to start favourite for Heat Seven (20:57) and Pat Buckley’s bitch will be up against potential improvers Deliverooo and Romeo Empire.
- The Star Sports/TRC Greyhound Derby will continue live on Saturday on SIS and the majority of bookmaker websites
Posted at 1415 BST on 20/05/25
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