Excitement is running high at Maxine Locke’s Bonville Kennels in Essex as three of their greyhounds, Droopys Pivotel, Coss Tokyo, and Cooliogold have sailed through to the Quarter Final of the 2024 Star Sports English Greyhound Derby at Towcester this Saturday.
Maxine has a long and proud history in greyhound racing, having been introduced to the sport by her father, a lover of both horse and greyhound racing, at the age of 15. Maxine really started to fall in love with the sport in her late teen years and took up her Professional Greyhound Trainer license aged 19. She is now attached to Romford Stadium.
Over the years she has trained a number of Derby contenders but, before this year’s success, hadn’t seen one of her dogs race in the event since 2019. This all changed, however, with the six-strong team of greyhounds which she put forward for this year’s competition. After some tough races in the first three rounds, three of her entries – Droopys Pivotel, Coss Tokyo and Cooliogold – have made it through to the Quarter Final, much to the excitement of Maxine and her kennelhands.
On X, Paul Wing was keen to recognise Locke’s many qualities, “Maxine trains dogs for us. She’s not only a very good trainer, she’s an exceptional human being, and it would be great for the kennels to get a Derby finalist.
“It’s a great kennel to be involved with, everyone cheers everyone’s dogs on and is happy for them when they win.
While a female trainer hasn’t won the Derby since Dolores Ruth with Shanless Slippy in 1996, Maxine and her all-women kennel are one of a number of woman-led Derby teams who are eyeing success at this year’s event, in which Liz McNair-trained King Memphis remains the favourite to come out on top.
Reflecting on her experience of the Derby so far, Maxine said:
“We are all dreaming at the minute as we really didn’t expect this success coming into the Derby this year. I’m so proud of our greyhounds who have run their hearts out each week of the competition.
“Whether we are able to join the crowds at Towcester to see them race, or we are watching them on the livestream, it’s very emotional to see the greyhounds we’ve trained and cared for run so well and reach their full potential. Especially after Cooliogold wasn’t able to enter last year, it’s exciting to see him finally able to race at the highest level of our sport.
“Even with some tough competition in this weekend’s Quarter Final, I’m sure it will be an exciting weekend of racing for our team, and I’m hopeful that we will have some semi-finalists in the kennels!”
Click here for more details on attending the Star Sports English Greyhound Derby at Towcester Racecourse.
Alternatively, AYOZAT will broadcast the entire 2024 Star Sports Greyhound Derby on the Ayozat Media Network. Pay-for-view pricing starts at £2.49 per show, rising to £4.99 each for the semi-final and final, or sign up for a season ticket for the whole competition on pay-for-view for £14.99. Click here for more information.
