Phil Milner's Third Bend Greyhound Derby Stats - Round One

Greyhound Derby 3rd bend timings - 1st round

The timings to and from the third bend are always a key part of the Star Sports & Orchestrate Ltd English Greyhound Derby analysis. Even just used simply to show the quickest dogs from the traps to that point for those who like a front runner or from that point home for those who favour a closer, they add plenty to the tapestry of the race.

While the first round can only really be used in that context, further rounds of data can be layered to give an accurate idea of just how much that first bend bump or fourth bend check of stride actually cost in terms of time lost.

Phil Milner has spent time compiling them for the first round, a huge thank you to him, not only for the time and effort into running this project in the first place but also for allowing us all access to them.

So, what are the key first round takeaways?

Brian is a slippery one early on

When the going allowance was taken into account, there was no dog quicker to the third bend during the second round than Graham Holland's Slippery Brian. He has won on all three of his starts at the track now and has shown a huge amount of consistency in those wins. 

There were a number of better sectionals than his 3.87, so it shows what he can do when he opens up those middle gears, taking half a length out of Proper Heiress from the winning line first time to the third bend.

Heiress probably was undercooked

A multiple Category One winner, he is not a ping out, short runner type, so it is a surprise that his run home time was as modest as it was. Mark Wallis was at pains at the Star Sports preview night to talk about just getting through the early rounds which suggested that Proper Heiress might come on plenty for his opening round run.

The figures would back that up as there were plenty who were quicker on the way home. He is a smart type that is going to come into himself as the competition progresses and given that his first round time was already one of the better efforts on show, he holds huge claims. 

Duffle burns the candle at both ends

It might seem an 'obvious' thing to say about the new track record holder but not only was Ballymac Duffle the fastest to the third bend before the going allowance was taken into account, he was also the third quickest home from that point.

He always looked a strong-running type in Ireland and that was very much confirmed by the figures. The new ante-post favourite, he could be a very tough sort to keep out of the frame, even if he doesn't come away as well as in the opening round.

Kranky Drake could be the qualifying type

The run home times are always interesting. A strong runner is no bad thing around Towcester and those types who just keep grabbing the place spots to continue to qualify are always of interest. 

One of the most noticeable in the opening round was Kevin Hutton's Kranky Drake. He had the second quickest time from the third bend home behind only Malcolm Bosh, who we all know is a power-packed finisher over this trip.