Can Droopys Plunge and Droopys Bookem join the list of brothers to qualify for the Greyhound Derby Final?
The Patrick Janssens trained Droopys Plunge and the Tom Heilbron trained Droopys Bookem look to become the first brothers to qualify the Greyhound Derby Final since 2020. We take a look at brothers who have made the Final over the years
Can Droopys Plunge and Droopys Bookem join the list of brothers to qualify for the Greyhound Derby Final?
The Patrick Janssens trained Droopys Plunge (below) and the Tom Heilbron trained Droopys Bookem (above) look to become the first brothers to qualify the Greyhound Derby Final since 2020. We take a look at brothers who have made the Final over the years
Droopys Plunge and Droopys Bookem line up in their respective Semi Finals of the StarSports/TRC Greyhound Derby on Saturday, both with realistic chances of making it through to the Final next Saturday. Should they both do so, they will become only the ninth pair of brothers to line up in the Final since the first running of the Derby back in 1927.
The first occasion arose in 1946 where Celtic Chief and Shannon Shore lined up in the Final at White City but both were a well beaten fourth and sixth respectively behind winner Monday’s News.
1960 saw brothers Clonalvy Romance and Clonalvy Pride lining up in the Final. Clonalvy Pride (below) was the more fancied of the two runners being sent off at 2/1 but could only finished last, though Clonalvy Romance finished a creditable runner up behind Duleek Dandy.
1967 saw a sibling one-two as 9/2 shot Tric Trac led home his more fancied brother Spectre, who was sent off as 2/1 favourite, by three quarters of a length.
It took nineteen years for another pair of brothers to reach the Final, when in 1986, Master Hardy and Fearless Action, trained by Arthur Hitch and Geoff DeMulder, finished second and fourth, but it was Hitch who won the race with his other runner Tico. Master Hardy was again the lesser fancied of the two, going off at 18/1 over this more fancied brother, who with Tico, was 6/4JF.
2006 saw a twenty year run ended by one of the most famous Derby winners of all time at Wimbledon, Westmead Hawk (below) who at 4/7F, landed his second Derby title in a row for Nick Savva when getting the better of Mineola Farloe by three quarters of a length. But brother Westmead Joe wasn’t beaten too far behind when finishing fourth, just over a couple of lengths in arrears.
Having gone nearly fourty years with just a couple of brothers reaching the Final, 2018 saw the start of a run where brothers made the Final three years in a row!
Kevin Hutton was responsible for Dorotas Wildcat (below) and Dorotas Vic in 2018, with Dorotas Wildcat winning just the second Derby to be held at Towcester following Astute Missile’s victory the year before in 2017. 20/1 outsider Dorotas Vic ran a huge race in finishing third, just over two lengths behind his brother
The following year in 2019 saw 6/1 shot Priceless Blake winning a first Greyhound Derby at Nottingham for trainer Paul Hennessy, but brothers Skywalker Logan and Magical Bale (below), trained by Pat Guilfoyle and Kevin Hutton finished third and fourth. Magical Bale proved costly for punters having been sent off as 11/10F.
And so, onto 2020, the last occasion where two brothers have made the Final of the Greyhound Derby, and it turned out to be a winning one as Pat Buckley’s Deerjet Sydney(below) got the better of Graham Holland’s Ballydoyle Valor at 11/4, with his brother, the Seamus Cahill trained Smurfs Machine finishing back in fourth.
Will we see two more brother’s lining up in this year’s Final?
We will know that answer just after 9.30pm on Saturday
