Star Sports/TRC Greyhound Derby - Cheap Sandwiches

Cheap Sandwiches

A September 2022 son of Burgess Bucks and Hearthill Josie, Cheap Sandwiches didn’t shape like a future Derby finalist at the start of his career. 

It took him four attempts to get off the mark and he finally did so when stepped up to four bends in an A3 at Clonmel in May last year.

Well beaten in a couple starts at Cork the following month, things began to click for him when he went to Shelbourne at the back end of the summer. After a facile success in the heats of the Time Greyhound Nutrion Aa0 550 semi-finals, Graham Holland’s charge chased home Bockos Diamond when a half-length second in the final, and that kennelmate would go on to be a regular thorn in his side.

Cheap Sandwiches won his second and third-round heats of the Irish Derby before a close second in the quarter-finals, but it was his semi-final demolition job that really made people sit up at take notice. He put a very good field to the sword that night, as he blasted out and ran away from them to score by four lengths in a smart 29.13.

The brilliant Bockos Diamond justified 30/100 favouritism in the €125,000 Derby decider but Cheap Sandwiches ran a blinder in defeat once again, staying on well to be beaten just a length into second by his kennelmate at 7/1. He may not have upset the odds that night but he finished clear of the rest and proved himself to be a genuine Derby dog.

He was also beaten a length by English Derby hero De Lahdedah at Shelbourne’s Winter Festival in December, after which he was put away in preparation for a tilt Towcester this summer.

The Holland-trained dog warmed up for the big one with a pleasing trial stakes victory and he was seen as a serious contender for outright glory at around 14/1 at the start of the competition, although it was kennel companion Bockos Diamond who was a warm order at the head of the ante-post betting.

Cheap Sandwiches recorded a first-round success over Glory Lord in 28.91 (-20) and defeated Faypoint Harvey in a fine 28.65 at the second-round stage, before tackling Bockos Diamond again in the third round and what followed was arguably the race of this year’s Derby.

Bockos Diamond showed his scintillating early speed to turn in front after a moderate start, but Cheap Sandwiches was hot on his heels and it was very much race on. The former was clear going into the third turn but Cheap Sandwiches was keeping on well and, with a long way back to third, the Holland duo went at it up the home straight. The line just came too soon for Cheap Sandwiches in the end and he was denied by a short head, but there was hardly anything between the pair on that occasion.

He bounced back with a dominant success in the quarter-finals when posting a rapid 28.67, before he came up against Bockos Diamond yet again in the semi-finals. This time, Cheap Sandwiches was beaten a length and three-quarters into second by his ultra-impressive kennelmate, but Bockos Diamond produced a ping break in trap six and he may need another one in the decider as they reoppose from the same traps.

He is a popular greyhound and will have plenty of support at Towcester for the final, not least from somebody who is making the journey all the way from Texas to watch Cheap Sandwiches in the £175,000 shoot out.

Verdict:

Trap five may be seen as a slight negative for him but he has won twice from the same trap during the Derby and his best split came in the orange jacket (3.97) in the second round. That 28.65 was his joint-best overall time, too, along with his identical semi-final figures – when also clad in orange.

His consistency through the Classic has been remarkable, with his fastest and slowest calculated times being within a length and a quarter of each other, while his sectionals have also been dependable - ranging from 3.97 to 4.04. He is certainly capable of leading if finding his best break, but he is also strong enough to go very close if turning a close second to either Sole Mio or Bockos Diamond. He is a best price of 6/1 and he seems sure to give his backers a good run for their money.