It’s the standout event on the greyhound racing calendar and a valuable asset in the British summer sports schedule. The Greyhound Derby enjoys a massive following with the paying public flocking to follow the heats, semi-final and final, with thousands more viewing the live TV coverage beamed out across the globe. Here are our top Greyhound Derby betting tips & predictions.
Bookmakers, as you would expect, haven’t been slow in picking up on this interest and they offer increased coverage of the event, allowing backers to ramp up their interest with a wager. Have your say on the winner of the heats or look further ahead and pick out your outright champion from the antepost list. The earlier you act, the better price you’ll get on your runner.
Nottingham Plays Host for the First Time
The heats take place this Friday with the final decided on Friday 7 June. Nottingham Greyhound Stadium plays host and this year will be the first the venue has the privilege of doing so. The event has a history that can be traced all the way back to 1927 and the honours list boasts some memorable names. The modern-day version is run over 500 metres on sand and is one for the sport’s speedsters, making it attractive to both dedicated lovers of the game and casual followers.
The Greyhound Derby was first run in 1927 at White City and was won by Entry Badge for local trainer Joe Harmon, with backers getting an SP 1/4, the champion doing as expected. The race was run at Wimbledon between 1985 and 2016, the last champion to be crowned there being Jaytee Jet for Ireland’s Paul Hennessy. We then moved to Towcester and had Astute Missile as the 2017 champion, followed by Dorotas Wildcat 12 months ago.
The latter did the business for Towcester trainer Kevin Hutton with on the day backers getting their hands on a cracking 2/1. He recorded a time of 28.85, which was faster than the year before. Will we see Dorotas Wildcat make a successful defence of the title at this new track? Bookmakers seem keen to keep on the right side of the defending champion and bet365 are offering an eye-catching 10/1. A nice price, but the change of venue puts us off and we’d rather look elsewhere.
Skywalker Leads the Way
Bookmakers have put together their antepost list and we find Skywalker Logan at the head of the pile. It’s a wide-open market, as you would expect from a tournament of this quality, but all firms are in agreement this is the one to be on. The 8/1 offered by Bet365 is market best price, although it does appear to be the general feeling at the time of writing. The October 2016 dog is trained by Patrick Guilfoyle and arrives at track on a strong run of form. There will certainly be plenty of interest shown in the jolly living up to expectations.
The fact bookmakers are giving each-way terms of 1/4 the odds a place 1-2-3-4-5-6 means all you have to do at this stage of the tournament is find a runner good enough to make the final to ensure a return on your investment. It then doesn’t matter how your pick gets on in the decider, as long as a place in booked in the field, you’ll see cash paid into your account. If your pick doesn’t win, you’ll get a 1/4 of the odds quoted at the time of placing your bet. If you’re lucky enough to be on the winner, you’ll be paid the outright price for winning as well as the 1/4 odds on top for placing.
That makes having an interest bet on one at a bigger price easier to do. What you’re after here is a greyhound that’s good enough to get through the opening heats and has the skill to book a place in the final. It’ll then be left to fate as anything can happen when the field of six lines up at Nottingham on 7 June. A plucky outsider is the aim here and we’ve found one.
Jaytee Taylor Gets our Support
The runner to carry our support in this year’s Greyhound Derby is Jaytee Taylor who can be backed at a cracking 14/1 with Ladbrokes. If you intend on following us in with that pick be careful who you trust with your stake money as many firms are giving just 12/1 on the same outcome. Picking the winner of the Greyhound Derby is no mean feat, so we don’t want to take less of a price about our runner. That would be criminal.
This September 2016 dog is owned by John Turner and trusted to the capable hands of respected trainer Paul Hennessy. The latter has winning form in this competition, having scored with Jaytee Jet back in 2016 at Wimbledon. The champion that year went off as a 15/8 favourite and lived up to expectations, getting the job done with a bit to spare. That means Hennessy is well versed on what it takes to prepare a dog for this sort of challenge and the Irishman will surely take the change of venue in his stride as he aims to double-up.
Arrives in Hot Form
Jaytee Taylor arrives in hot form and scored a hat-trick of wins earlier this year when doing the business on three occasions between January and February. He still has a bit to find on some of the more fancied runners in the betting, but he has a wide seeding and that’s sure to result in a favoured draw for our boy. If he can get through the heat without too much fuss, we’re confident he’ll grow in confidence, and shorten in price, as the competition progresses.
The outright betting for the Greyhound Derby has Skywalker Logan as 8/1 favourite, as previously mentioned, and he’s followed by last year’s winner Dorotas Wildcat at 10/1, Lenson Blinder 14/1 (Bet365), Clonbrien Prince 16/1 (Ladbrokes) and Droops Verve 16/1 (Ladbrokes).