Dean Etheridge
The 2023 Greyhound Derby competition gets underway at Towcester Racecourse on Thursday, May 25th. A total of 192 greyhounds will be taking part, and with the winning owner pocketing a cool $208,000, it promises to be a competitive event. Here we look ahead to the competition, and name the dogs we think offer the best value to win, with our free greyhound betting picks.
- What; 2023 Greyhound Derby
- Where; Towcester Racecourse, Northamptonshire, England
- Starts; Thursday, May 25th, 2023
- Grand Final; Saturday, July 1st, 2023
The competition takes place across a six-week period. The 192 greyhounds will fight it out in knockout rounds, starting with the first round, which takes place across the three nights of May 25th, 26th, and 27th. The full schedule is as follows:-
- 1st Round – May 25th, 26th, and 27th
- 2nd Round – June 2nd, and 3rd
- 3rd Round – June 10th
- Quarter-finals – June 17th
- Semi-finals – June 24th
- Final – July 1st
Eventually, there will be just six greyhounds remaining in the competition, and they will contest the final on Saturday, July 1st. The winning owner receives a whopping £175,000 ($208,000). With the greyhound also claiming the title of English Greyhound Derby Champion.
⚠️ | 𝗕𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗞𝗜𝗡𝗚 𝗡𝗘𝗪𝗦: 192 ENTRIES
The 192 entries have been released for the 2023 Star Sports Greyhound Derby @TowcesterRaces#GreyhoundDerby2023https://t.co/rkxOUiGVLS
— Star Sports Bookmakers (@StarSports_Bet) May 16, 2023
All 192 greyhounds are now declared for 2023. The course the greyhounds will be competing on is a 500 meter long sand circuit situated at Towcester Racecourse. This has been the home of the Greyhound Derby since 2017.
But the race has suffered difficulties over the years, and was relocated to Nottingham in 2019 and 2020 after Towcester was forced to close due to financial problems. Thankfully, Towcester reopened, and the race returned to the venue in 2021, where it has remained since.
Who won the 2022 Greyhound Derby?
The winner of last year’s race was Romeo Magico, who is owned by David Frimager and trained by Graham Holland. Romeo Magico was the +250 second favorite to win the race, with second placed Kildare (+225) starting as the favorite.
Star Sports/TRC Greyhound Derby Final
🥇 T4 Romeo Magico
🥈 T2 Kildare
🥉 T5 Mickys Barrett⏱️ 28.95sec
🏟️ @TowcesterRaces#GreyhoundDerby2022𝗪𝗮𝘁𝗰𝗵 𝗥𝗣𝗚𝗧𝗩 ➡️ https://t.co/Gv627HZycN pic.twitter.com/00tEyo75rH
— @RPGreyhounds (@RPGreyhounds) June 25, 2022
Romeo Magic won out of Trap 2 in a time of 28.95, narrowly beating Kildare who was drawn in Trap 2, and finished the race in a time of 29.09. Unfortunately, Kildare won’t be competing in 2023, after his popular Irish trainer Peter Cronin announced he wouldn’t be entering any runners in this year’s race.
Betting to win the 2023 Greyhound Derby
The joint favorites to win this year’s Greyhound Derby are Fromposttopillar and Swords Rex at +1000. Swords Rex has just seen his odds dramatically reduced from +1600 to +1000. This after he clocked an impressive time of 28.76, when winning the Derby Trial Stake on the same Towcester course a couple of weeks back.
Behind the two leading contenders is Clona Duke at +1200. Then comes Romeo Command, Ballymac Finn, and Ballymac Marino, all at +1600. We have to go down to seventh in the betting to find last year’s champion, Romeo Magico, who is +2000.
Behind the leading contenders is Maree Champion +2500, and then Bradys Bullet at +4000.
Below you will find more betting on our Greyhound Derby odds table. These odds are taken from the best greyhound racing betting sites. You can read more about these sites on our best online sportsbooks page.
| Betting to win the 2023 Greyhound Derby |  |  |  |
| Fromposttopillar | +1000 | +1000 | +1000 |
| Swords Rex | +1000 | +1000 | +1000 |
| Clona Duke | +1200 | +1200 | +1200 |
| Romeo Command | +1600 | +1600 | +1600 |
| Ballymac Finn | +1600 | +1600 | +1600 |
| Ballymac Marino | +1600 | +1600 | +1600 |
| Romeo Magico | +2000 | +2000 | +2000 |
| Maree Champion | +2500 | +2500 | +2500 |
| Bradys Bullet | +2800 | +2800 | +2800 |
| Droopys Fidget | +4000 | +4000 | +4000 |
| Distant Podge | +4000 | +4000 | +4000 |
| Brookside Richie | +4000 | +4000 | +4000 |
| Arkady | +5000 | +5000 | +5000 |
Our Greyhound Derby Picks
Right, now it’s time to name our sports betting picks to win the 2023 Greyhound Derby. With such long odds, it’s possible to hedge our bets and improve our chances of winning. The favorites are priced up at +1000. With the last runner in the betting at a huge +100000 to win. So there are plenty of betting opportunities available.
First up, we’re going for one of the favorites, and it’s the aforementioned Swords Rex. The dog is in great form, having recently won the trials race in a time that would have won last year’s Greyhound Derby.
Swords Rex is also trained by Graham Holland, who trained last year’s winner Romeo Magico. As well as winning last year’s Derby, Holland has also trained the winners of the Irish Greyhound Derby three times. And just for good measure, he also has a string of other classic greyhound wins to his name.
We think this all makes Swords Rex a worthwhile bet and make him our first pick to win the 2023 Greyhound Derby.
Sticking with the same trainer, and our second pick is the defending champion, Romeo Magico. The 2022 champion is a large looking +2000. And it’s like we often say here, he looks like one of those bets that you kick yourself for not making when he wins.
Our Long Shot Pick
Finally, for our third and final pick, we’re going for a bit of a longshot. No, it’s not Wrighty at +75000, or Sehnsa Judge at +100000, it is in fact Savana Beau.
The dog came sixth in last year’s final, after going off fifth in the betting at +1600. Savana Beau is trained by Diana Henry, who is local to the area, so he will also be familiar with the course.
Considering he got into the last six 12 months ago, we think odds of +12500 look way too good to ignore, and make Savana Beau our final pick to win the 2023 Greyhound Derby.
