LIZ MORT, chair of the British Greyhound Breeders Forum (BGBF), described the feat of the trio of Liz McNair-trained litter brothers winning all three BGBF British Bred Derby semi-finals at Sheffield on Tuesday as up with the “very best achievements in British breeding”.

From a February 17 batch by Eden The Kid out of Skate On, three brothers – King Dylan (28.70sec), King Lennon (28.71sec) and King Sheeran (28.81sec) – landed a superb treble for trainer McNair, husband Rab and the litter’s breeder Brendan Keogh of the owning KSS Syndicate – and now line up in Tuesday’s £7,500 decider.

“It really was one of the very best achievements in British breeding and continues Rab and Liz’s extraordinary success with their long line of top-class litters and major successes including with the likes of King Elvis and King Turbo. Elvis is doing well at stud and I understand that’s the plan for Turbo, too. Hopefully both will continue their success off the track.

“Liz and Rab’s own success means we have a really festive feel to the BGBF British Bred Derby Final with three Kings going for gold! But we’ve also some good opposition against them, so well done to John Sharp with his own litter-brothers Sharpys Pluto and Sharpys Rocket and Martin Cutler and Neil Russell with their Russelena Bowwow.

“We’ve six top dogs lining up for the final next week and are looking forward to that. Of course on form the Kings have the edge. There was only one spot between Dylan and Lennon in the semis and are clearly enjoying being in two competitions at once – they are thriving on it and good luck to connections at Romford on Friday, too.”

On a general note, Mort added: “I’m delighted with the way the BGBF competitions have panned out this year. We’ve seen some very good dogs indeed, and some excellent racing. We’ve run our Category Twos and expanded our Category Ones to take in more of the northern tracks.

“Hopefully this continues to proved a real inspiration to breeders and any prospective breeders out there who want to join the party! These events have brought to the fore a good deal of British-bred talent that we hadn’t generally seen in terms of depth. We’re currently planning our 2020 schedule and hope to release details soon.

“I’d like to thank Sheffield for hosting our British Bred Derby for the second year. They are doing an excellent job once again and, while we are ready to enjoy Tuesday night, are certainly planning to be back next year for more of the same.”

For his part, Rab McNair, husband of the Central Park trainer, said King Dylan and King Lennon were in fine fettle ahead of two finals in the space of a week with the Coral Essex Vase first on the agenda at Romford on Friday.

“They are doing great,” he said. “It’s been busy for us with Romford, Sheffield and the Oaks at Swindon, but the Kings and Queens are doing us proud. It’s great to have three chances in the British Bred Derby and Sheeran has already won the Produce Stakes. It’s important to support these competitions.

“Beyonce is coming along nicely in the Oaks – as are the younger ones, too. She’d been off for a while, so is coming forward with each race and thrives on the work as do her brothers, especially Lennon and Dylan. It wasn’t for Cash, but we know it worked for Lennon earlier this year and Dylan is loving it too.”

Trap draw and form for Tuesday’s final: www.bagsracing.com/assets/10-december—sheffield-adv.pdf