Queen of Crayford Laughil Jess aiming for Derby Final Night success

 Queen of Crayford Laughil Jess aiming for Derby Final Night success

One of the most popular and successful bitches in recent years, Laughil Jess, is on the comeback trail with trainer Dave Lee hopeful that she can make an appearance at Towcester on Saturday, June 14 in a supporting race as part of the StarSports/TRC Greyhound Derby card.

Speaking this morning about a comeback, Lee said “We wanted to give her a gallop and the best place to have a gallop is on the track, and if she went well enough, we would think about her going for a race. She did a 13.65 at Romford last week and did a 16.48 at Central Park yesterday, both of which are good times considering she has been off since October".

"The aim is to get her a run on Derby final night as I’m hoping to have a couple of runners on the card. She will be entered in the Allied Site Services Bitches Trophy at Towcester on Sunday, hopefully she will get in and reach the final, if not there is a seniors race and a standard race on final night which we can enter her for".

Having been off the track since October, Laughil Jess gave birth to a litter of seven pups on New Year's Eve with Dorotas Wildcat the sire, and Lee explained why he chose Dorotas Wildcat in particular.

“I want Bockos Diamond to win the Derby for one reason, because I put Dorotas Wildcat with Laughil Jess because of him. Before he won the Irish Derby I could see he looked a fantastic dog, and obviously March on Freddie ran well in the same competition, but he went on to win the Derby which was a boost for the breeding and hopefully he goes on to win this year.”

“All the pups have been sold, but I’ve kept a share in all seven for myself. I could have got a lot more money if I had sold them all outright, but it wasn’t about the money. They are staying in the kennel and I’d rather have people owning them with me”

Laughil Jess had an amazing year in 2023 and went on an incredible 19-race winning run at Crayford from June 3 to December 16 but was denied in her bid to make it 20 when finishing runner-up in the Ladbrokes Xmas Guys And Dolls final .She also won an open over four bends at Crayford and Harlow, a two-run competition at Central Park, a heat of the PGR Oaks at Perry Barr and a race at Nottingham but it was her unbeaten run over the Crayford six-bend journey that really captured the imagination of the greyhound public.

She triumphed in the £10,000 Ladbrokes Gold Collar in November 2023 when making all the running from Minnie Bullet and was nominated at the Greyhound Of The Year awards in both Stayers and Bitches categories, both of which were won by Jimmy Fenwick’s Bellmore Sally.

In particular her Gold Collar semi-final victory over Aayamza Sydney was one of the performances of the year and showed her sheer will to win which was evident in so many of her races during her spectacular winning sequence.