2025 Star Sports & TRC English Greyhound Derby second round

By Peter Walker

The first round heats produced some brilliant races over all three nights. The ante-post favourite Bockos Diamond got his campaign off to a winning one in a workman-life performance on the opening night. 

Proper Heiress came through but had to settle for the runners-up position behind Droopys Aladdin. 

The track was gauged to be running -20 slow on the first night. 

Qualification casualties included Wicky Ned who endured a troubled passage throughout but appeared unscathed after taking a tumble late-on. 

Gary The Arb also missed out coming last in only a four-runner heat. 

Friday saw last year’s winner De Lahdedah put in a scintillating run with the bookies cutting his odds from a generous best-priced 33/1 to 12/1 with the sponsors. 

Promising pup

The third night saw the promising pup Headford Asher fail to qualify with Boylesports Bob finishing like a train to grab the lead at just the right time. 

Ballinabolla Joe achieved the quickest sectional of the round with a 3.91 split. 

Most of the other ‘big guns’ got through with five well-supported greyhounds successful out of trap six.

The draw for the second round, made on the Sunday, has produced some tricky heats. 

The vagaries of the draw without equal distribution of winners have given connections of heats two (including De Lahdedah) and sixteen (with Cheap Sandwiches in five) little comfort with four and five winners drawn together respectively. 

Kind heat

Heat thirteen appears on paper to have been kind to Bockos Diamond as the only heat winner in his race. 

Supporters of March On Freddie may need a quicker break in another tough heat with three winners on his inside to negotiate.   

The ratings for each second round heat is still calculated individually, the same as the previous round. 

From the third round onwards, the ratings are assessed collectively between all the remaining forty-eight qualifiers for the first time. 

Incidentally, the top rated greyhounds in thirty-two first round heats highlighted sixteen winners. 

Good luck to all greyhounds and connections this Friday and Saturday with no vacant boxes drawn at this stage now.

Friday 19.10

Friday 19.28

Friday 19.46

Friday 20.06

Friday 20.22

Friday 20.39

Friday 20.57

Friday 21.15

Saturday 19.10

Saturday 19.28

Saturday 19.46

Saturday 20.06

Saturday 20.22

Saturday 20.39

Saturday 20.57

Saturday 21.15