The Derby

Star Sports Derby Round 1 - Friday with head-ons

May 30, 2024 • 2 min read

THE football-style score from the second night of the Star Sports/TRC English Derby reads UK 3, Ireland 7 (Graham Holland 5) but there was so much more to it than that.

Firstly, what a crazy 16 minutes for Rab and Liz McNair and the KSS Syndicate, who first saw the brilliant Queen Joni crash out after a heat 11 slip on leaving traps turned an average but eminently workable position into the impossible one that transpired.

Derby over for one of the co-favourites but immediately she was back in the kennels the other, King Memphis, was being marched out for heat 12 and put in the same trap four box.

Any nerves were immediately banished by a fast start and it became clear that he was only racing against the clock, eventually stopping it in 28.58sec, King Memphis matching the April track record of Droopys Clue and regaining a share of it having lost it to Romeo Command on New Year's Eve.

Afterwards, it was akin to the Graham Holland show with the dual-Derby winning trainer making it clear a hat-trick is a serious possibility by sending out five winners, a second and a third from eight runners with Bockos Crystal his only elimination.

Of the winning quintet, star billing probably goes to reigning champion Gaytime Nemo, who was victorious for the first time since taking the Derby crown when landing the finale.

The halfway sectionals kindly provided by super-clocker Ray Bourne make interesting reading with record-equalling King Memphis only second in the rankings.

He posted 13.67sec but Pat Buckley's Antigua Hawk, who was winning his first career race at the first time of asking, was two spots faster, while fellow Irish greyhound Hawkfield Blue, trained by John McGee, also impressed with a 13.75sec split.

The going, officially +10 for the first four heats before reverting to normal, did seem a little livelier than for Thursday's session, while every trap bar two provided a winner but three once again fared best with a trio of successes.

Post-race interviews by Emily Wallis and courtesy of Star Sports. Head-on footage from Ayozat.