PRICELESS BLAKE held on in a thriller to take the £100,000 Greyhound Derby winner’s cheque back to Ireland.
Breaking best of the six finalists, Priceless Blake, drawn in trap three and trained in Co Kilkenny by Paul Hennessy, held a three-length lead down the back straight after trouble at the first bend cost 11-10 favourite Magical Bale, who began his challenge from trap one, his chance of victory in the Star Sports, Arc and LPS-sponsored Classic.
And although 12-1 shot Ballymac Tas (trap two) and 7-2 chance Skywalker Logan (trap three) wore down the leader’s advantage on the run to the line, Priceless Blake grimly clung on to score by half a length and a head at 6-1.
Magical Bale completed in fourth place, three and three-quarter lengths away.
Hennessy, who won the last Greyhound Derby at Wimbledon with Jaytee Jet in 2016 - the 2019 running was the first to be staged at Nottingham - said: “To be honest he has been the dog of this competition in the sense that he battled every night and kept coming forward.
“He’s just a tremendous competitor - he’s improved the whole way through the competition.”
The winner is owned by Cayman Islands-based husband and wife Bryan and Kathleen Murphy and Hennessy added: “Bryan and Kathleen, they’re at this game for 40 to 50 years and to win an English Derby for them is amazing.”
Bryan Murphy added: “It’s a lifetime ambition. When we started, we said, ‘That’s the ambition.’
“To do it is fantastic.”
FULL RESULT , 2019 GREYHOUND DERBY
1ST PRICELESS BLAKE (T3) 6-1
2ND BALLYMAC TAS (T2) 12-1
3RD SKYWALKER LOGAN (T4) 7-2
4TH MAGICAL BALE (T1) 11-10F
5TH DROOPYS EXPERT (T5) 12-1
6TH CLONBRIEN PRINCE (T6) 4-1
