Holland domination on Saturday night at Towcester

The top three in the outright betting are all with Graham Holland

Riverside Kennels have a stranglehold on the 2025 Star Sports & TRC English Greyhound Derby heading into the third round. A treble on the night from Bockos Diamond, Bombay Pat and Cheap Sandwiches sees the three at the head of the betting, though the team would not have liked to see two of them clashing so soon as they will next Saturday night.

It was Bockos Diamond who produced the quickest run of the night, sporting his trapping boots, he pinged to a 3.93 split on his way to a 28.51. An exceptional day for owners Graham Box and Bev Lochead who chose Towcester and greyhound racing over a trip to Wembley to see their beloved Crystal Palace win the FA Cup. 

Just two spots slower than Bockos Diamond was Bombay Pat. He produced his best split of his five looks at Towcester to go seven spots quicker than his impressive trial stakes success from three weeks back. The striped jacket is on his back again next week.

Cheap Sandwiches has taken well to Towcester, producing a 28.65 despite not taking up the lead until the second bend in his heat. He is finding plenty of time with each round and he has stripes in the pick of the round three action next week with Bockos Diamond drawn inside him. That is going to be a clash to savour this early in the competition. 

Six of the eight heats went back to Ireland, Sole Mio getting the night off to a flying start in the opening heat for Peter Cronin. The Kirby runner-up clocked 28.91 but still looks to have plenty to come given that this was only his second 500m look at Towcester, arriving at the Derby off the back of just a sprint trial.

Bubbly Charger looked to have a potentially hazardous draw for Brendan Matthews but a 4.01 split saw him clear his field on the way to a 28.93 victory.  He was one position behind Sole Mio in he Kirby final, once more the form of the Limerick competition standing up.

The other Irish winner on the night was Singalong Molly. Her 29.00 was the slowest winning time of the night which is a remarkable effort! Pat Buckley had the quickest on Friday night but Molly is one of 15 wide runners into the third round. There is a strong chance that there will still be double figures heading into the quarter-final stage so the luck of the draw will become ever more important. 

Droopys Trade beat his kenelmate Romeo Empire in an impressive 28.80 to book his spot next Saturday. The Gymcrack finalist has found a chunk with each time that he has gone to the traps at Towcester so it will be fascinating to see how much more he has in the tank.

Phil Milner had the other winner on the night with Keefill Maverick. The dual Cat One finalist clocked a smart 28.93, showing the best early gears to get to the opening corner in front. In fact, six of the eight heat winners have always led or soon led on their comments on a night where it proved tough to make up ground from off the speed.

Heat 9 - 1st Sole Mio (t3) - 2nd Wrighty (t4) - 3rd Gingers Shelby (t6) 

Heat 10 - 1st Bombay Pat (t6) - 2nd Prince Naseem (t4) - 3rd One Slick Jamie (t1)  

Heat 11 - 1st Bubbly Charger (t4) - 2nd No Better Feelin (t1) - 3rd Barefoot On Fire (t3)

Heat 12  - 1st Singalong Molly (t6) - 2nd Hopes Ompaloompa (t2) - 3rd Indian Bonnie (t5) 

Heat 13 - 1st Bockos Diamond (t6) - 2nd Rackethall Brute (t3) - 3rd Kevins Rocket (t2) 

Heat 14 - 1st Droopys Trade (t3) - Romeo Empire (t2) - Glory Lord (t4) 

Heat 15 - 1st Keefill Maverick (t5) - 2nd Newinn Benni (t6) - 3rd Cooliogold (t1) 

Heat 16 - 1st Cheap Sandwiches (t5) - 2nd Faypoint Harvey (t1) - Jaytee Craze (t3)