KING TURBO was a popular winner of the inaugural Coral Winter Derby Final (490m) at Hove on Thursday – on a night the Sussex track reopened part of his main grandstand as a major refurbishment there continues.

Brian Murphy, Hove’s stadium manager, said: “With the soft opening of the restaurant planned for the same night as the first Coral Winter Derby Final, Thursday was definitely a big night for everyone at Hove!

“The mini re-opening was sold out with 225 seats booked weeks in advance. The night was a great success, and we’ve received some really nice feedback from regulars and guests invited to watch the final.

“The grand opening of the entire upper grandstand will take place in July when all the refurbishment works have been finished – and that should be a great occasion in itself which we’re all looking forward to.

“The big race itself was the reason everyone was there, of course,” added Murphy. “The new competition over 490m has been extremely exciting to watch and congratulations to everyone who made it to the final.

“Having the winners of both the Olympic and Sussex Cup up against each other in King Turbo and Sporting Dave was just great as our last two Cat One winners – and they were joined by some high-quality greyhounds in Droopys Nirvana, Volcanic Reef, King Dylan and Easter Week.

“Ultimately, King Turbo was a worthy first winner of the Coral Winter Derby, and with it the first prize of £10,000, and hopefully we will see him back at Hove later in the year.

“It remains a busy time for us, with the ongoing renovations of the rest of the restaurant, and our plans for a new owners and trainers section. We also have our first auction here on April 14 in conjunction with Anglo Irish Greyhound Sales which should be very exciting and we hope will attract new and existing owners.

“I’d like to say a big thank-you to the team at Hove, who worked extremely hard to make the night a great success. Everyone worked well together to bring a real atmosphere to the place and deliver a great final and top quality customer service.”

On the track, the action sparkled with the main event seeing King Turbo, trained by Liz and Rab McNair for the the KSS Syndicate, taking the £10,000 prize as he broke in front and held a real challenge from Sporting Dave to win by three lengths in 28.46sec (-20).

“That was brilliant, and he’s just an unbelievable dog,” said Rab McNair. “You’e always worried whether he’d come out of the inside, and he needed to in a great final, but when he trapped like he did you could probably here me cheer him on from the middle!

“He’s a top-class greyhound. He won the Olympic here over 515m, but has so much speed the 490m worked for him even better. He won four Cat Ones last year and is off and running again this year – maybe we’ve got to win six to be Greyhound of the Year!”

Brendan Keogh, breeder and part-owner with the KSS Syndicate, said: “This dog is number one. He’s brilliant, but I must say that Sporting Dave gave him a proper race. He kept Turbo under pressure into that third bend – and only the best would do.”

Plans for the November 2015 son of Leamaneigh Turbo and Wee Tiger Tots, the reigning British Bred Greyhound of the Year, are fluid with no definitive race plans. A decision on his possible participation in the Derby is yet to be made.