A look back at the East Anglian Derby and some previous notable winners

A look back at the East Anglian Derby and some previous notable winners

With the entries for The Click Competitions 79th East Anglian Derby closing today at noon, we take a brief look back at the history of the competition and pick out five notable winners 

Known as the East Anglian Derby before any sponsorship deals were brought in, the first running under NGRC rules took place in 1975, with the first winner being Another Gear, trained by Ron Wilding, who was actually responsible for the first two winners as Huberts Town won the following year in 1976.

Our Rufus became the first greyhound to win the competition twice, winning in both 1978 and 1979 for trainer John Coleman, a feat that has only been repeated once since by the Charlie Lister trained Fear Zafonic in 2009 and 2010.

Lister enjoyed a remarkable record in this competition, winning it no less than twelve occasions. The first of those being Swift Band in 1981 with Newinn Shadown winning it for Lister on the final occasion in 2017.

Champion trainer Mark Wallis has won on four occasions, the first of those titles arriving back in 2005 with Fear No One, with the latest coming courtesy of Hopes Paddington in 2022.

Having looked back over the previous winners, here is a list of five notable previous winners

Larkhill Bullet 2002   Staplers Jo x Annies Bullet

Larkhill Bullet was the sixth winner for Charlie Lister when making all the running in the 2002 final. Having finished second in his first round heat, victories in the second round and semi final saw him sent off as 6/4F for the final and never gave backers a moment’s worry when defeating Brian Clemenson’s Blue Gooner by three and a half lengths in 28.22. 

Following that success, Larkhill Bullet reached the final of the William Hill Derby Final in 2003, but having found early trouble on no less than three occasions, he finished last when defeated by Droopys Hewitt, who was trained by Andy Ioannou, in what turned out to be his final outing

Fear Zafonic 2009-2010  Premier Fantasy x Farloe Oyster

Wins number nine and ten arrived in 2009 and 2010 for Charlie Lister as Fear Zafonic became only the second greyhound to land back-to-back East Anglian Derby’s. For most greyhounds, this would be seen as the highlight of their career, but the case of Fear Zafonic, these titles were just the latest in the line of category one titles throughout his career.

Having already won the Puppy Derby Final at Walthamstow in 2008, 2009 saw him landing the Birmingham Cup at Perry Barr and the Racing Post Juvenile at Wimbledon before going close to winning the final of the William Hill Derby at Wimbledon when picked up close home by Kinda Ready. However, he faced no such issues in the final of the East Anglian Derby when making all the running for a length and three quarter all the way success over Jordansoilutions

2010 wasn’t quite as good as 2009 though. Having been lightly raced in the early months of the year, Fear Zafonic exited the William Hill Derby at the second round stage, but returned to Yarmouth in August and won his final six races there, culminating in an undefeated defence of his East Anglian Derby, making all the running again in all three rounds, recording track record runs in heat and final, stopping the clock in 27.37 for a five and three quarter length victory in the final, his last race before retirement

Newinn Shadow 2017 Kinloch Brae x Newinn Expert

Win number eleven arrived for Charlie Lister in 2017 when Newinn Shadow produced a bit of an upset when running out a three and three quarter length winner in 27.23, the fastest time recorded by any previous winner of this competition at 8/1. He came out on top of a field which consisted of runner up Murrys Act, Hiya Butt, Bubbly Bluebird and Bubbly Turbo 

Despite winning plenty of races and reaching the finals of various competitions such as the Peterborough Puppy Derby and Puppy Classic at Nottingham in 2016, Silver Salver at Central Park and William Hill Classic at Sunderland in 2017, the East Anglian Derby turned out to be the only major competition that he won but it remains to be seen if his winning time in the final will ever be beaten. 

Roxholme Nidge 2019  Droopys Nidge x Silver Dollar

Roxholme Nidge was one of the most impressive winners of the East Anglian Derby in 2019 for trainer Hayley Keightley.

Not only did he go through the four round competition unbeaten, he was sent off as an odds on favourite in all four of those contests and making all the running in doing so, recording a two and a half length success in a time of 27.89 on a track that looked to be slower than the -10 that was given, especially as he recorded 27.44 in his semi final, at odds of 4/11F.

That winning performance drew the curtains on a succesful career, having previously won the William Hill Puppy Plate at Nottingham and the Romford Puppy Cup in 2017, returning from serious injury to win the Steel City Cup at Sheffield in 2018 and again in 2019

Druids Say Go 2024  Droopys Sydney x Druids Diana

Patrick Janssens trained last year’s winner Druids Say Go, who was one of many previous winners who went unbeaten through the competition when recording a five length victory in a time of 27.26, going close to topping the quickest previous time set by Newinn Shadow at odds of 4/6F.

Having won numerous contests in the early part of 2024, either one off races or category three competitions, Druids Say Go’s first attempt at winning a category one title came in the Coral Golden Sprint at Romford, but having won both heat and semi final, early trouble put paid to her chances in the final. Having exited the Pall Mall at Oxford at the semi final stage, she fared better next in the Click Competitions 78th East Anglian Derby when making all the running, and repeated that feat at Perry Barr shortly after, going undefeated in heats, semi final and final of the PGR Oaks.

Her final outing came in the final of another category one title in April this year when finishing runner up behind the John Mullins trained Aayamza Sydney in the ARC Laurels Final at Perry Barr