The 2019 Star Sports, ARC & LPS Greyhound Derby took place during May and June with the final being held on 29 June 2019 at

Nottingham Greyhound Stadium Nottingham Greyhound Stadium is a greyhound racing track and stadium on the outskirts of Nottingham, England. Races at the course are held on Monday, Friday and Saturday evenings as well as an additional matinée meeting every Tuesday. The ci ...

. It was the first time that the event was held at Nottingham following the unexpected closure of

Towcester Greyhound Stadium Towcester Greyhound Stadium is a greyhound racing track located within Towcester Racecourse at Towcester in Northamptonshire, England. It has been the home of the English Greyhound Derby since 2021, having previously hosted the event from 2017 ...

in 2018. The event was sponsored by Star Sports,

ARC ARC may refer to: Business * Aircraft Radio Corporation, a major avionics manufacturer from the 1920s to the '50s * Airlines Reporting Corporation, an airline-owned company that provides ticket distribution, reporting, and settlement services * ...

and LPS (Local Parking Security Services). The winner Priceless Blake won £100,000 and was trained by Paul Hennessy, owned by Bryan and Kathleen Murphy. The dates of the competition were: First Round (24/25 May), Second Round (31 May/1 June), Third Round (7 June), Quarter Finals (15 June), Semi Finals (22 June) and Final (29 June).

Final Result

At Nottingham (over 500 metres): Winner £100,000

Final Distances

½, head, 3¾, 1¾, 2¾ (lengths) ''0.08 sec = one length''

Final report

Quarter finals

Semi finals

Competition Review

There were 209 entries of which 44 were from Ireland and the high number resulted in 17 greyhounds standing as reserves because the entry was restricted for the first time in over 30 years. The ante-post favourite was the defending champion Dorotas Wildcat at 12-1, followed by

All England Cup The All England Cup is a greyhound racing competition held annually. It was inaugurated in 1938 at Brough Park later known as Newcastle. History was made during the 1946 running when four of the entries were the four nations Derby winners. The E ...

and

Dundalk International The Dundalk International is a greyhound racing competition held annually at Dundalk Stadium in Dundalk, County Louth, Ireland. It was held at the Dundalk Ramparts Greyhound Stadium from 1968 until 2000 until the track closed in 2000 and then i ...

winner Droopys Verve (14-1), Lenson Blinder,

Shelbourne 600 The Shelbourne 600 is a greyhound racing competition held annually at Shelbourne Park in Ringsend, Dublin, Ireland. It is one of the leading competitions for stayers in the Irish racing greyhound racing calendar and was inaugurated in 1964. ...

champion Clonbrien Prince and Irish Derby finalist Jaytee Taylor (all 20-1). A notable absentee was Easter Cup winner Clona Blaze. The first round got underway on 24 May with a 29.71 race win for Sporting Dave, a time bettered by Droopys Trapper in heat 3 (29.60). Three Irish winners then impressed; Clonbrien Prince eased to victory in heat 5 (29.70) before Lemon Shane recorded 29.59 in heat 6 and Droopys Davy recorded 29.46. It was not until heat 15 that Droopys Expert appeared and he survived a scare when qualifying in third place after suffering in an incident packed race. The final heat of the night was arguably the best as Graham Holland's Wolfe defeated Dorotas Wildcat by 1½ lengths, with the benefit of being drawn inside the defending champion in a time of 29.54. The second batch of first round heats started with the shock defeat of Droopys Verve behind Desperado Dan but the black dog still progressed. Verve's kennelmate Droopys Nadal then impressed by setting a best time of 29.32, a time that was beaten by Queen Beyonce (29.27) one heat later. Irish hope Jaytee Taylor won heat 22 before Patrick Guilfoyle's Skywalker Logan broke the track record in heat 23 setting a new Nottingham record of 29.05. The brilliant King Turbo won his heat as did major contenders Ballyanne Sim ( the Irish Derby champion), Boylesports Xtra and Lenson Blinder. Despite many troubled heats (caused by the large amount of greyhounds seeded rails) all of the major contenders made it through to round two and the trophy looked destined for an Irish victory at this stage. The second round started on 31 May with 8 heats; Magical Bale bounced back to winning ways in a very fast 29.30 comprehensively beating Ballyanne Sim. Second wins were sealed for Liberty Hawk, Clonbrien Prince who recorded the second fastest time of 29.42 for the first night of the second round, Desperado Dan, Lemon Shane and Queen Beyonce but Lenson Blinder and Boylesports Xtra both crashed out.

Scottish Derby The Scottish Derby was a Group 2 flat horse race in Great Britain open to thoroughbreds aged three years or older. It was run at Ayr over a distance of 1 mile and 2 furlongs (2,012 metres), and it was scheduled to take place each year in July. ...

Champ Braveheart Bobby and King Sheeran completed the night's winners. The following night the big guns Dorotas Wildcat, Skywalker Logan and Droopys Expert all sealed wins but Wolfe seemed to stop chasing which left Roxholme Jim free to win by over ten lengths. Remarkably Droopys Trapper and Jaytee Taylor became the ninth and tenth greyhounds to remain unbeaten. Braveheart Bobby was withdrawn from the event before the third round and it was the defending champion Dorotas Wildcat who got the third round underway with a very fast time of 29.28, Droopys Expert qualified in third. Droopys Verve continued his good form winning heat 2 in a sparkling 29.14 and Clonbrien Prince remained unbeaten when winning heat 3 in 29.19, Ballyanne Sim qualified in third place. Desperado Dan and Droopys Trapper were both eliminated. The fourth heat saw the appearance of Skywalker Logan and after finding significant trouble and looking as though he was out he just managed to recover and qualify in third place behind Dower Rory who won despite being interfered with by Swift Jim on the run-in. Next Priceless Blake defeated Jaytee Taylor before Queen Beyonce won again. The final two heats went to Nice Charmer and Magical Bale. By a twist of fate a dead heat for third place between Front Edge and

Trafalgar Cup The Trafalgar Cup is a greyhound competition held at Monmore Green Stadium for puppies under the age of two. It is the oldest puppy competition in the racing calendar. It was contested at Wembley Stadium from 1929 until 1998, but when the Wembley ...

champion King Sheeran would normally have required a run off but because Swift Jim had been disqualified both would enter the quarter final draw. Previously the run off loser would have stood as reserve. Going into the quarter finals there were just two undefeated greyhounds left Clonbrien Prince and Queen Beyonce. In the first heat Priceless Blake ran well to hold off King Sheeran and Roxholme Glory but Droopys Verve could not overcome another bad trap draw and found trouble. Magical Bale made a blistering start and recorded a very fast 29.14, Droopys Expert finished second but could not make ground on the winner and Ballymac Tas took third. A competitive third heat saw Queen Beyonce come from behind to win and remain unbeaten, Clonbrien Prince battled with Paganini Show on the run-in but took second after overtaking the early leader Ballyanne Sim who claimed third. The champion Dorotas Wildcat completed the night with a 29.38 win from Jaytee Taylor and the strong finishing Skywalker Logan. The first semi-final was arguably the strongest semi final in Derby history and favourite Magical Bale broke well ahead of the champion Dorotas Wildcat and Droopys Expert, the three inside traps looked to have final places sealed especially as the Irish champion Ballyanne Sim and King Sheeran found trouble. However Priceless Blake nipped in behind the trio and slowly gained on the leaders and caught the fading Dorotas Wildcat for third. The defending champion ran under par but retired with a great reputation. The second heat resulted in a comfortable win for Clonbrien Prince from track record holder Skywalker Logan and Ballymac Tas (who held of Jaytee Taylor); the unbeaten Queen Beyonce failed to get any sort of run and got tangled up with Roxholme Glory. In the final Priceless Blake made a great start and as predicted with an all rails line-up there was trouble behind. Magical Bale recovered from a poor start and moved into second position at the first bend but failed to take the bend clean moving off and ending his chances and that of Clonbrien Prince and Droopys Expert. Ballymac Tas and Skywalker Logan both ran on strongly but could not catch Priceless Blake who led a 1-2-3 for Ireland.

References

{{English Greyhound Derby Greyhound Derby English Greyhound Derby

English Greyhound Derby The English Greyhound Derby is the most prestigious race on the British Greyhound racing in the United Kingdom, greyhound racing calendar, with a history stretching back to 1927. It was first held at White City Stadium, but moved to Wimbledon ...

Sports competitions in Nottingham 2010s in Nottingham