Heats for the English greyhound derby are announced
Wimbledon maybe famed for a racquet or two but it will be different kind of racket that will be welcomed to the south-west of London over the next two weeks, as the boisterous greyhound racing following will be rolling into town for the English Derby. All the talk of Federer and Nadal, for the next two weeks anyway, will be replaced by discussions of trap draws and split times.
After the success of the bettor.com Scottish Derby, Wimbledon will be looking to continue the positive momentum surrounding greyhound racing currently by putting on an entertaining show. Scottish Derby winner Nambisco is at the forefront of the excitement as Carly Philpott’s charge is on course for the £1million bonus offered by bettor.com for winning the Triple Crown (Scottish, English and Irish Derbys).
The draw for the heats was made at Wimbledon HQ on Sunday, it was staged adjacent to the new William Hill betting shop by the first bend, and it was supervised by Duncan Gibson, of the Greyhound Board, and Gary Matthews, Wimbledon's racing manager. There were 207 dogs entered, after eight withdrawals from the original field of 215.
It was declared that 32 heats of six runners and three heats of five runners will be run over three nights, starting this Thursday and ending on Saturday night.
In of the 26 heats the first three will qualify, while the remaining heats will see the first two qualify. Stay tuned here at bettor.com where each race will be individually previewed.
Current Derby favourite Eye Onthe Storm has been given a tricky draw from trap five in heat 10 on Thursday. Mark Wallis’ charge seems to appreciate a rail draw and with a couple of early pace-setters, including Irish Laurels champion Sevenhead Bay, could be vulnerable if he’s caught sleeping from the traps. The bookmakers have reacted to the draw by slightly lengthening Eye Onthe Storm’s odds - he is now a top price 10-1 shot with a variety of firms.
Friday sees the return of last year’s derby runner-up, Fear Zafonic, who runs in heat 14. Charlie Lister’s hopeful will be running from trap four, which incredibly is the first time the experienced hound has been drawn there in 31 races. The draw shouldn’t be too much of a hindrance towards his chances however, as the form book suggests Fear Zafonic has at least six lengths on all his first heat rivals.
The bettor.com Scottish derby hero Nambisco has been given a trap three draw in heat 23 on the Friday, which is the same trap from which he won the Shawfield showpiece two weeks ago. Much like Fear Zafonic, Nambisco should have no problems in progressing through an uncompetitive heat if he can re-produce a sliver of the form from his Scottish Derby triumph.
Tags: