KING MEMPHIS heads into Saturday’s Premier Greyhound Racing Kent Derby Final at Central Park as a red-hot favourite after stepping up on his heat victory with a new track record in the semi-finals at the weekend.

The English Derby finalist and reigning Olympic champion made it four in a row at the Sittingbourne venue since returning to the fray after a late summer break in the second semi-final of the £20,000-to-the-winner Category One which concludes this Saturday on another huge night – and weekend – for the sport. The Oaks and Scurry semi-finals take place at Perry Barr the same evening, 24 hours after the Champion Stakes final at Romford and a day before the Steel City Cup final at Sheffield.

Quickly away in his semi, the Liz McNair-trained King Memphis was soon in the driving seat and, coming forward with every run now, never gave his supporters a concern as he stretched clear for an all-the-way four and three-quarter length success over Droopys Display (Maxine Locke) in 28.57sec (+10). The time was two lengths inside the previous best for the 491m since new traps were installed at the track which King Memphis matched in the heats.

“He’s improving all the time, which we hoped he would,” said Rab McNair, husband of the winning trainer. “We gave him plenty of time after the Derby and brought him back slowly, slowly. Having said that I think Paul’s (Donovan) dog (Cinderella Tell) ran a cracker against him in the heats, but Memphis has come on again, although he’s got to do it all again in the final, especially with Maxine’s (Locke) dog on his inside.

“We did think about the Irish Derby for him but it’s all about Towcester next year for Memphis and we’ll gear his preparation to that. There’s the Olympic again at Hove and also talk of a big meeting at Towcester in December – that’s another possibility.”

The McNairs will be doubly handed in the Premier Greyhound Racing Kent Derby Final – an event they won with King Turbo in 2018 – after Havana Top Note chased home a rampant El Tornillo in the third semi-final.

Dave Lee’s dog tore to the first bend and drew right away down the back straight on his way to a two-length win over the running-on Havana Top Note in a fast 28.66sec (+10) to continue his own impressive run of form since returning to the fray.

The Maxine Locke kennel will also be doubly handed in the final after Droopys Manowar was quickly away to set up a trap-to-line win in the first semi-final, drawing clear for a two and a half length victory in 29.02sec (+10), leading home Tony Collett’s local Atomic Crimes, who also makes the final as the sole wide seed.

Trap draw for Saturday’s Premier Greyhound Racing Kent Derby Final: 1 Droopys Manowar, 2 King Memphis, 3 Havana Top Note, 4 Droopys Display (m), 5 El Tornillo (m), 6 Atomic Crimes (w).