Premier Greyhound Racing Kent Derby

Premier Greyhound Racing Kent Derby 

The hotly anticipated Premier Greyhound Racing Kent Derby starts on Saturday, October 4 with heats worth £350 to the winner. 

The £20,000 to the winner event will be run over the four-bend 491-metre trip at Central Park over the next three Saturdays. 

Notable entries include the Maxine Locke-trained Ladbrokes Winter Derby and Ladbrokes Gold Cup winner Headford Dane. Defending champion Droopys Display will also line up in the heats for the Kent Derby on Saturday evening. Lightly raced this calendar year, Droopys Display has had plenty of issues but a couple of course and distance trials suggest all is well, and he returns to competitive action looking to go back-to-back in the Category One competition. Kennelmate Ballymac Blanco will also head to the Sittingbourne venue Central Park for the Locke team.

Droopys Plunge will be one of the stars on show as the 2025 Star Sports / TRC English Greyhound Derby winner looks to add another Category One success to his CV. Irish raider Bomaby Pat adds a bit of spice to the competition. The Graham Holland-trained flying machine was eliminated in the BOYLE Sports Irish Greyhound Derby third round following trouble behind Ballymac Stud over the four-bend 503-metre trip at Shelbourne Park. The 491-metre distance at Central Park will suit, and he goes into the competition with leading claims. 

Zenith Sultan caught the eye in a Kent Derby trial stakes open race on Saturday, September 27, showing plenty of zip down the back straight to hit the front. He goes into the competition along with kennelmate Texas Jack, who impressed on the same night, beating BetGoodwin Pall Mall winner Gingers Prince by over four lengths in 28.88. The lightly raced May 2023 son of Coolavanny Hoffa was off the track recently with a cough but trainer Richard Rees confirmed all is well and with a bit of extra weight on him, he’s kicked on again and looks an interesting prospect for the competition as an early paced wide seed. 

The Kent Derby is a competition held annually at Central Park Greyhound Stadium. Inaugurated in 2000, the event holds Category One status. Run over the four-bend 491 metre trip, previous sponsors include John Smiths, Cearnsport, Ladbrokes, Arena Racing Company, with Premier Greyhound Racing taking over in 2022. 

Smoking Bullet took the first ever Kent Derby back in 2000 with a head victory over Broadland Tom for trainer Derek Knight. Sent off as the even money favourite the John Ward and Vinny Jones-owned son of Joyful Tidings led at the first corner and took the race in 28.65. 

Other notable winners over the years include Lenson Bolt in 2009, Bubbly Bluebird in 2016 and King Turbo in 2018. The popular Chruchfield Syd took the Category One event in October 2023 by two and a half lengths at 13/8. The Richard Rees-trained wide seed made all with Romeo Command taking second. 

Droopys Display took the 2024 Premier Greyhound Racing Kent Derby with a track record 28.45 run in the final with odds-on favourite King Memphis in second. 

General admission and group packages are available via the official Central Park Greyhound Stadium website.