Esther Driver’s Quill Quids Heads to Sussex Cup Final at Hove

Quill Quids Reaches First Category One Final

Esther Driver knows Quill Quids needs to continue his improvement in the Sussex Cup final at Hove on Saturday.

The May 2023 son of Droopys Sydney and Ballymac Beanie came from last to first when getting up late to deny Ower Mystery and land his semi-final last weekend.

His time was a long way off Proper Heiress in the fastest semi-final and Driver is under no illusion of the task at hand, but she believes there could be more to come from her charge.

“He came out about two lengths behind everything else and did very well to win,” said Driver.

“He has plenty to find on the clock but he seems to be improving. It’s been a bit stop-start with him but I think he is learning now.

“He ran well in the first round of the Derby and was unlucky not to qualify. He’s only just turned two years old and I think we’re getting there with him.

“I’m not worried about the time he did in the semi-final because it was a messy race and he was six lengths behind them going up to the corner. He’s had to battle his way through and he’ll improve for that.”

Driver also expressed her frustration at her railer being drawn in trap five, making a tough assignment even tougher.

The trainer continued: “It would have been hard enough even if he got trap one!

We haven’t had a lot of luck with the draw in this competition. In the first round, Hopes Ompaloompa got knocked over from trap four, then No Better Feelin got trap five in the semi-final and it was completely foreign to him. 

And then the reward for Quill Quids winning his semi-final was another trap-five draw and it was a bit of a hard one to take.

It’s nice to have a runner in a big final at Hove as we’re Brighton born and bred, so it’s our home track. It’s a competition we’ve grown up watching and while it would have been nice to get a better draw, he’ll certainly try his best. 

You never know, we’ll see what happens. It’s his first Category One final and hopefully he’ll get in a few more.”

The achievements of Quill Quids continue a fantastic year for Driver, whose No Better Feelin reached the semi-finals of the Star Sports/TRC English Greyhound Derby at Towcester in June.

No Better Feelin exited the Classic in fourth place behind Bockos Diamond, Cheap Sandwiches and Droopys Plunge, but he did the kennel proud with his efforts throughout the Derby.

She added: “It’s been an exciting year. No Better Feelin gave us a real buzz in the Derby and he put the kennel on the map.

It was nice to see some old faces at the track and we really enjoyed the whole thing. 

His worst run was probably when he got knocked out. We knew we didn’t have the fastest dog in the race and that if Cheap Sandwiches and Bockos Diamond got away, then we weren’t going to beat them. 

We were looking at that third qualifying spot and unfortunately Droopys Plunge is really fast finisher, so the only chance we had was to get in front of that rival. That was his race - against Droopys Plunge – and he did get in front of him, but he came off the rail at the third bend and made it easy for Plunge to pass him.”

Team Driver is not resting on their laurels and they are looking to build on their success in the second half of the year.

Driver explained: “We’re getting a little bit of a team together now and we have some owners who are supporting us, so you will see some new faces coming through.

We have a little bitch called Scooby Baroness, I think she looks nice. 

We also have a nice little puppy (April 2024) called Mossrich Mossie. Unfortunately, his owner passed away recently and he’s running in his memory, so hopefully he turns out to be decent.”

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