The Star Sports Bookmakers & ARC English Greyhound Derby gets underway this coming Friday and Saturday with 16 first round heats. A total of 96 greyhounds will head to traps and amongst them will be 5 British Bred greyhounds who will be carrying the hopes and dreams of their respective breeders , owners and trainers.

Sharp Darcy is the first British Bred greyhound to line up and does so in heat 4 on Friday evening. Owned by the Sharp Lads, bred and trained at Hove by Seamus Cahill. Darcy has a winning record of 9 victories from 29 career starts and reached the semi final of the 74th British Bred Produce Stakes at Swindon recently. Also competing on Friday evening is the John Mullins trained, David Firmager bred and owned Romeo Rumble.  This greyhound is no stranger to success at Nottingham having ran out an impressive winner of the British Breeders Stakes Final at the track in October 2019 and just a month later qualified through to the semi final of the Eclipse. Rumble is a winner of 7 of his 40 career starts.

Moving onto Saturday evening and King Dylan goes in heat 10 for the K.S.S Syndicate and the training team of Liz and Rab McNair. This strong running sort is yet to win at Nottingham but did reach the final of the Eclipse here in 2019 as well as also reaching the finals of the Winter Derby at Hove, the British Bred Produce Stakes at Swindon and the British Bred Derby at Sheffield. A winner of 13 of his 51 career starts, finishing runner up on a further 15 occasions, he’s a greyhound who always gives his all. Next up of the British bred greyhounds is the full brother to King Dylan, also bred by Brendan Keogh, step forward for heat 12 King Cash. Also owned by the K.S.S Syndicate and again trained by Liz and Rab McNair, Cash has a winning record of 14 from 59 starts with a further 13 runner up positions. He too is yet to win a race at Nottingham but highlighted his class perfectly when finishing a close runner up to brother King Sheeran in the 2019 British Bred Produce Stakes Final, a race in which King Dylan finished third to complete a memorable 1,2,3 for a breeding and training team that many have strived to emulate in recent years. Last but by no means least Amka Rofe lines up in heat 14 for owner and breeder Jeff Watson and Swindon trainer Robert Smith. A winner of 10 of his 24 starts to date, this is a greyhound still firmly on the improve despite having turned 2 years of age in February. He’s progressed nicely through the grades at home track Swindon, from A5 winner to A1 and subsequently a winner of 5 open races including a maiden at Nottingham. Rofe won his heat of the British Bred Produce Stakes at Swindon recently as well as his semi final before finishing fourth in the final itself.

We wish all connections the very best of luck with your greyhounds this coming weekend at Nottingham, yourselves and your greyhounds are doing British Breeding proud.