Buckley Dominates English Derby First Round Action

SURPRISES aplenty.

That was the theme from the first round action in the Star Sports Greyhound Derby at Nottingham on Friday and Saturday.

The drama started from the outset when Hayley Keightley's hot favourite in the first heat, Hiya Boyo, bowed out after finding trouble in the run to the first bend.

Keightley's other fancied runner, Roxholme Kristoff, followed suit in heat eight.

And so it continued, with an array of short priced runners exiting the competition including Waikiki Lad, Black Parachute and Darbys Ranger which all exited the series on night one. 

There were however, some exceptional performances too, most notably from Irish trainer Pat Buckley.

Buckley opened up proceedings by sending out Deerjet Sydney to win in 29.83, then Glengar Bale, a son of Barcia Bale, won in 29.55.

But perhaps the most impressive win of the night was Knocknaboul Syd which made it a hatrick for Buckley, clocking 29.66.

Saturday saw torrential rain all day in Nottingham and although the track staff did their best to plate the track, the constant deluge meant the track was up to a second and a half slow.

As far as times are concerned, the form book can certainly be thrown away.

Pat Buckley was on the score sheet again in the first of the heats on Saturday night with Doolin Duke which made it four out of four first round heat wins for his team.

There isn't a man in the competition that wants to win the English Derby more than Pat.

It's the only one that eludes him having won the Irish and Scottish Derbies. He is bidding to become one of an elite set of trainers to have won all three, only achieved by the great Nick Savva and Paul Hennessey.

The rest of the night belonged to Nicky Holland who is over from Ireland (representing her husband and recent Irish Derby winning trainer, Graham) with her team of five dogs.

She got all her Saturday night runners safely through to the next round, some feat in such treacherous conditions.

Wolfe has been shortened to 14/1 with the sponsors after reminding us all how much he loves the Nottingham track. He was so impressive in the first round in 2019 but in the second round last year, inexplicably got distracted, costing him his place in the Derby.

He's been lightly raced since and looks a force to be reckoned with.

Also qualifying for team Holland wereFeudal Spirit and Lenson Bocko which were second in their respective heats. Ballydoyle Valor won heat 15 and ante post favourite Newinn Session battled to win the competitive finale beating Kilara Icon which was eye-catching in second, moving from last up the field in very heavy ground.

One of the fancied ante post UK runners, Bockos Doomie qualified in third in that heat.

Two English runners have notably shortened in the ante post market as well.

Blue Tick George thrived on the galloping style of the track from the red of trap one, which he exits from again in round two.

He's owned by David Mitchell and crew who also have Captain Dynamite, amongst others, racing in Australia.

Another standout performance came from Gold Cup winner Gonzo which won for Julie Bateson. He will improve as we get deeper into the competition but made a paw-perfect start coming from off the pace.

All in all, the weekend belonged to the Irish.

With just 14 of the 96 runners that went into the hat, they now have the top seven in the betting.

Eight second round heats are on Saturday when hopefully conditions will be a bit more favourable and us English can up our game!