As we are about to begin this year’s Derby, I’ve calculated the ratings covering every race in the first round where applicable. This has been carried out using an automated process whereby each race is an independent assessment based on only the greyhounds entered in individual heats. Therefore, at this juncture, no direct comparison can be made between the ratings in all the first-round heats.
Trial only assessments are as indicated on the race cards. Any runners without recent trials and/or performances over track and distance at Towcester have not been assigned figures at this early stage of the competition. Subsequently, the top three ranked greyhounds represent only those allocated a rating.
| 500m | ROUND 1 HEAT 1 (Towcester) | RATING | RANK | RATING | TRAP | |
| Trap 1 | Azurite | — | 1 | 200 | 4 | |
| Trap 2 | Keefill Rocky | 169 | 2 | 180 | 3 | |
| Trap 3 | Jaytee Etienne | 180 | 3 | 169 | 2 | |
| Trap 4 | Newinn Syd | 200 | trial | |||
| Trap 5 | Bangon Carson (M) | 159 | trial | |||
| Trap 6 | Antigua Forky (W) | — | ||||
| 4 bends | ||||||
| OR1 | GREYHOUND DERBY | 4-3-2 | Top 3 | |||
Thursday Race no. 4
| 500m | ROUND 1 HEAT 2 (Towcester) | RATING | RANK | RATING | TRAP | |
| Trap 1 | Storys Cashout | 169 | 1 | 194 | 5 | |
| Trap 2 | Mcneill | — | 2 | 192 | 3 | |
| Trap 3 | Crafty Shivoo | 192 | 3 | 169 | 1 | |
| Trap 4 | Grouchos Duke | — | ||||
| Trap 5 | Undulation (M) | 194 | trial | |||
| Trap 6 | Brinkleys Ginger (W) | — | ||||
| 4 bends | ||||||
| OR1 | GREYHOUND DERBY | 5-3-1 | Top 3 | |||
| 500m | ROUND 1 HEAT 3 (Towcester) | RATING | RANK | RATING | TRAP | |
| Trap 1 | The Other Donny | 183 | 1 | 191 | 2 | |
| Trap 2 | Antigua Kestrel | 191 | trial | 2 | 183 | 1 |
| Trap 3 | Edwards | 179 | 3 | 179 | 3 | |
| Trap 4 | Barefoot Awesome | 159 | ||||
| Trap 5 | Fair Joe (M) | — | ||||
| Trap 6 | Ballinabola Jim (W) | 153 | trial | |||
| 4 bends | ||||||
| OR1 | GREYHOUND DERBY | 2-1-3 | Top 3 | |||
Thursday Race no. 6
| 500m | ROUND 1 HEAT 4 (Towcester) | RATING | RANK | RATING | TRAP | |
| Trap 1 | Milton Daisy | 141 | 1 | 190 | 2 | |
| Trap 2 | Unreal Bruiser | 190 | 2 | 178 | 3 | |
| Trap 3 | Whyaye Man | 178 | trial | 3 | 169 | 4 |
| Trap 4 | Coss Tokyo | 169 | ||||
| Trap 5 | Savana Roisin (M) | 159 | trial | |||
| Trap 6 | Signet Goofy (W) | 168 | ||||
| 4 bends | ||||||
| OR1 | GREYHOUND DERBY | 2-3-4 | Top 3 | |||
Thursday Race no. 7
| 500m | ROUND 1 HEAT 5 (Towcester) | RATING | RANK | RATING | TRAP | |
| Trap 1 | Savanabetgoodwin | 171 | trial | 1 | 192 | 2 |
| Trap 2 | Bockos Thunder | 192 | 2 | 192 | 5 | |
| Trap 3 | Gary The Arb | 146 | 3 | 171 | 1 | |
| Trap 4 | Ballymac No | 151 | ||||
| Trap 5 | Kilara Roberto (M) | 192 | ||||
| Trap 6 | Skywalker Pele (W) | 131 | trial | |||
| 4 bends | ||||||
| OR1 | GREYHOUND DERBY | 2-5-1 | Top 3 | |||
Thursday Race no. 8
| 500m | ROUND 1 HEAT 6 (Towcester) | RATING | RANK | RATING | TRAP | |
| Trap 1 | Tullymurry Jenga | 153 | 1 | 198 | 4 | |
| Trap 2 | Untold Paanga | 147 | 2 | 187 | 3 | |
| Trap 3 | The Other Kobe | 187 | 3 | 158 | 5 | |
| Trap 4 | Faypoint Harvey | 198 | ||||
| Trap 5 | Riverside Pingu (M) | 158 | ||||
| Trap 6 | Westway Zoro (W) | 139 | ||||
| 4 bends | ||||||
| OR1 | GREYHOUND DERBY | 4-3-5 | Top 3 | |||
| 500m | ROUND 1 HEAT 7 (Towcester) | RATING | RANK | RATING | TRAP | |
| Trap 1 | Scaglietti | 176 | 1 | 195 | 2 | |
| Trap 2 | Savana Shay | 195 | trial | 2 | 186 | 6 |
| Trap 3 | Nowitsmyturn | 166 | 3 | 176 | 1 | |
| Trap 4 | Bombay The Joker | 174 | ||||
| Trap 5 | Uncle Freddie (M) | 164 | trial | |||
| Trap 6 | Droopys Doughnut (W) | 186 | ||||
| 4 bends | ||||||
| OR1 | GREYHOUND DERBY | 2-6-1 | Top 3 | |||
Thursday Race no. 10
| 500m | ROUND 1 HEAT 8 (Towcester) | RATING | RANK | RATING | TRAP | |
| Trap 1 | Never Say No | 150 | trial | 1 | 192 | 5 |
| Trap 2 | De Lahdedah | 157 | trial | 2 | 189 | 4 |
| Trap 3 | Queen Shakira | — | 3 | 181 | 6 | |
| Trap 4 | Greenwell Coe | 189 | trial | |||
| Trap 5 | Ower Cracker (M) | 192 | trial | |||
| Trap 6 | Churchfield Syd (W) | 181 | trial | |||
| 4 bends | ||||||
| OR1 | GREYHOUND DERBY | 5-4-6 | Top 3 | |||
Thursday Race 11
| 500m | ROUND 1 HEAT 9 (Towcester) | RATING | RANK | RATING | TRAP | |
| Trap 1 | Salacres Negocio | 151 | 1 | 200 | 3 | |
| Trap 2 | Cooliogold | 180 | 2 | 180 | 2 | |
| Trap 3 | Aayamza Sydney | 200 | 3 | 172 | 5 | |
| Trap 4 | King Capaldi | — | ||||
| Trap 5 | Beggers Bullet (M) | 172 | ||||
| Trap 6 | Gutsy Elly (W) | 140 | trial | |||
| 4 bends | ||||||
| OR1 | GREYHOUND DERBY | 3-2-5 | Top 3 | |||
Thursday Race 12
| 500m | RD. 1 HEAT 10 (Towcester) | RATING | RANK | RATING | TRAP | |
| Trap 1 | Singalong Dolly | 174 | trial | 1 | 200 | 6 |
| Trap 2 | All Along | 163 | 2 | 174 | 1 | |
| Trap 3 | Makeit Lorraine | 124 | 3 | 167 | 5 | |
| Trap 4 | Slick Sabo | 142 | ||||
| Trap 5 | Miracle (M) | 167 | ||||
| Trap 6 | Boylesports Bob (W) | 200 | trial | |||
| 4 bends | ||||||
| OR1 | GREYHOUND DERBY | 6-1-5 | Top 3 | |||
Prior to the first round, the ante post market has seen a few greyhounds shortened up and for obvious reasons. At the latest prices, I’m surprised that Aayamza Sydney is still available at 50/1, so if you’re looking for a bit of value (aren’t we all!), you could do a lot worse. Probably difficult to weigh up the best of the Irish contingent until we have had a couple of rounds. Of the other home runners, Links Maverick and Queen Joni stand out. It’s a tough campaign, but as long as Joni stays fit and doesn’t come into season (unless is suppressed), she will have many supporters rooting for her.
Good luck to all taking part and they come back safe and sound, win or lose. Friday and Saturday’s ratings to follow.
