Historic StarSports English Greyhound Derby to make its return to Towcester Racecourse this month

The eyes of the greyhound racing world will focus on Towcester Racecourse this month as the StarSports English Greyhound Derby returns to the prestigious Northamptonshire venue.Held over six successive weekends, the Derby is greyhound racing’s premiere event which attracts 192 of the world’s fastest greyhounds each entered in the hope of scooping the £175,000 first prize.This year marks the competition’s fifth staging at Towcester Racecourse since greyhound racing was introduced in 2014. And a glittering afternoon and evening of family-friendly activities and entertainment is being planned by the venue’s management for finals night on Saturday, July 1.Managing Director Kevin Boothby promised to showcase greyhound racing at its very best and is forecasting the largest attendance across the competition in its modern era.“Football celebrates the World Cup Final, athletics has the Olympics and in greyhound racing every part of our sport operates with the dream of being represented in the Derby,” said Kevin.“We’re proud to be bringing this historic and culturally significant sporting occasion to Northamptonshire for a third successive year as part of our wider vision to regenerate, educate and connect new audiences to the sport.“The Derby is greyhound racing at its very best and there in no finer location in the country than Towcester Racecourse to write a new chapter in this competition’s history. We’ve been really encouraged by initial ticket sales and highly recommend friends, family and colleagues in search of a fun, alternative, night out to book their space trackside in advance.”The competition celebrates its 93rd running this season after the first staging was held in 1927 at the iconic White City Stadium where crowds exceeding 92,000 would watch the final.Winners since then include Mick The Millar (1929 and 1930) who was recently inducted into Wembley Stadium’s list of 100 icons to celebrate the venue’s 100-year anniversary, Camira Flash (1968) owned by the late Prince Philip and Westmead Hawk (2005 and 2006) who became the first dog to have his own waxwork created at Madame Tussauds.Graham Holland trained Romeo Magico became the most recent greyhound to immortalise his name in the sport’s history when landing last year’s title in 28.95 seconds – an average speed of 38.63mph – in front of over 4,000 racegoers.Kevin encouraged anyone yet to experience live greyhound racing to use the Derby as their first touchpoint to the sport.“Greyhound racing has made significant strides in recent years which delivers world-leading standards of care to the stars of our sport from birth and through until retirement,” said Kevin.“Ground-breaking welfare strategies coupled with retirement and injury schemes means the care requirements of our sport go far beyond what it necessary for all domestic pet owners.“It’s for this reason we’re approaching the public in full confidence to get involved with greyhound racing and experience a Derby where the health and wellbeing of our athletes is taken as seriously as the performances we witness on track.”Round One of the 2023 StarSports English Greyhound Derby begins at Towcester Racecourse on Thursday, May 25, with the first of 32 qualifying heats.The English Greyhound Derby Final will be run on Saturday, July 1, and headline a gala race night and afternoon of family-friendly activities including live music, stilt walkers and mirror men. General admission and restaurant bookings can be purchased by clicking here.All VIP boxes on finals night are sold out.