New-brood-on-the-block Queen Beyonce is winner of the Best Dam of British Bred for 2023 thanks to her exceptional mating to Droopys Sydney – a brilliant pairing which produced dual Cat One winner King Memphis, and Cat One finalist King Capaldi.

Remarkably, three from this litter contested the final of the RPGTV Puppy Derby at Towcester, all trained by Liz McNair and won by King Memphis – who led home an incredible littermates one-two-three with brothers King Capaldi and King Combs crossing the line in the places ahead of kennelmate Queen Dusty in fourth.

King Memphis had been nothing short of exceptional in the semi-finals, setting a new track record for the 500m trip, and would show his Puppy Derby success was no fluke by following up with another Cat One title just five weeks later in the quality-packed Coral Olympic over 515m at Hove for connections, the K.S.S Syndicate.

King Capaldi headed to Sheffield after the RPGTV Puppy Derby in a bid to land a Cat One title of his own and reached the final of the BGBF British Bred Derby, but was withdrawn off-colour, with kennelmate Queen Joni going on to land the spoils.

Queen Beyonce, a Feb 17 daughter of Eden The Kid out of Skate On, was a fantastic bitch in her own right and won the Sussex Puppy Trophy. She also reached the Star Sports English Greyhound Derby semi-finals in 2019.

Beyonce came back to contest the Oaks but was never back to herself and retired in January 2020.

A winner of 18 from 27 races, her 29.27sec over the Derby distance, and clocking 28.67sec for Central Park’s then 480m, were stand-out performances on the track.

She is also a litter sister to King Sheeran who was the first greyhound to break 29.00sec for Hove’s 500m course.

Liz Mort, chair of the British Greyhound Breeders’ Forum, said: “I’m absolutely delighted for Brendan Keogh and the K.S.S. Syndicate, and of course Liz and Rab.

“They are no strangers to this award of course, as Queen Beyonce’s dam Skate On won it for them for a record four years running, 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020. Beyonce is by their own Eden The Kid, also British bred, whose sire was the great Westmead Hawk so all in all it is a great triumph of British breeding!”

Eden The Kid broke the track record at Wimbledon at 21 months old, and this litter out of Queen Beyonce has certainly inherited his early maturity.

Liz added: “The five (four dogs and one bitch) have all made their mark very quickly. Incredibly, three of them – King Memphis, King Capaldi and King Combs – filled, in that order, the first three places in the RPGTV English Puppy Derby final at Towcester in November. King Capaldi had finished third in the Produce Stakes, and King Memphis went on to win the Coral Olympic Final at Hove in December. Being so young, they haven’t clocked up many races, but each of the five has won at least two of their starts. An amazing record and there is obviously a great deal more to come from them over the next couple of years.”

Runner-up in the GBGB Best Dam of British Bred 2023 rankings was Irish-bred Drive On Betsy, with BGBF Breeders Stakes winner Romeo Command and last year’s Greyhound Trader Stakes hero Savana Top Cat the major contributors.

Said Liz: “Congratulations too to David and Nicola Firmager. Among Drive On Betsy’s 24 offspring (from three litters – by Droopys Sydney, Dorotas Wildcat and Kilty Lad) is of course dam of Romeo Command, who won the BGBF British Breeders’ Stakes last year, then went on to be second in the English Derby. He even set a new track record at Towcester on the last day of 2023!”