The first steps to English Derby glory began this afternoon, despite no greyhound stepping onto the track. The draw for the opening round of the classic was made soon after midday and a total of 31 Irish trained greyhounds were in the hat.
To highlight the strength of the Irish team, which is just one sixth of the total entry, Derby sponsors Star Sports have introduced the raiding party as odds-on favourites to land the trophy for the seventeenth time.
Romeo Magico was the latest Irish trained winner when coming home in front last year and he returns to defend his title, although his kennel companions Swords Rex and Clona Duke are a far shorter price to hand Graham Holland a second English Derby title.
Swords Rex is disputing favouritism for outright glory. He took off in his latest outing around Towcester, posting a new track record for the 500m trip and is already a dual classic winner after capturing last year’s Kirby Memorial at Limerick and the Easter Cup earlier this year.
Clona Duke is also no stranger to big race success. The Juvenile Derby and Select Stakes champion sits just behind Swords Rex and the UK trained Fromposttopillar in the outright betting.
But the Irish challenge is far more than just the eight-strong Graham Holland team. Liam Dowling, Brendan Matthews, Paul Hennessy, Jack Kennelly and Dolores Ruth are all sending over greyhounds to challenge at Towcester.
Liam Dowling has a very strong team with his Irish Derby runner-up Ballymac Finn amongst the favourites for outright glory, while his Juvenile Classic winner Ballymac Marino is also strongly fancied. Another of his to keep an eye on is the powerful Ballymac Johnjo.
Both Paul Hennessy and Dolores Ruth have won the blue riband in the past. In fact, Hennessy has tasted victory in the classic twice in the past seven years with Jaytee Jet in 2016 and Priceless Blake in 20.19. He will need a little luck this year but don’t be shocked if he were to get a couple through to the latter stages as he did last year when sending out two finalists.
Dolores Ruth claimed her English Derby victory over twenty-five years ago with Shanless Slippy. Her best chance of glory rests on the shoulders of Mustang Jet, the Leger runner-up and Winter Racing Festival Open 550 winner.
The talking stops next week with the opening round spanning Thursday, Friday and Saturday. The best of luck to all travelling from these shores and, hopefully, we will be celebrating win number seventeen for the Irish come July 1st.
Meanwhile, on this side of the Irish Sea, there is some exceptional racing on the horizon with the final of the Champion 550 and the opening round of the Sporting Press Irish Oaks making up Saturday’s card at Shelbourne Park.
The final of the Champion 550 features some really powerful young trackers with Bens Teddy and Sober Glory dominating the betting. The former is drawn to perfection on the fence and will bid to complete an unbeaten passage through the stake, although h can’t afford to give Sober Glory a head start.
Sober Glory is one of the most progressive young greyhounds in training and could yet develop into a serious Derby challenger. Bens Teddy just gets the nod but this one could go right down to the wire.
This year’s Sporting Press Irish Oaks is a vintage renewal. At a time when the fairer sex have never performed so well, the top end of the market features some true superstars including the Leger and Cesarewitch winner Bobsleigh Dream, the National Puppy Stake champion Up The Style, Laurels runner-up Ballymac Whispa, Puppy Oaks winner Lets Go Bubbles, Derby third and Corn Cuchulainn champion Crafty Kokoro, last year’s runner-up Scooby Duchess and the brilliant Teresas Mendoza, Boylesports Coco, Unmatched and Undisputed.
And we still haven’t mentioned Raha Mofo. Last year’s champion was recently named the 2022 Bitch of the Year and she comes into the classic on the back of a tremendous success in the Limerick Oaks. Have no doubt, the ladies will put on a show in the coming weeks.
There is also plenty of wonderful racing on offer tonight including the semi-finals of the Champion Open Unraced at Kilkenny, the semis of the Islandbridge Open Sprint at Shelbourne, the semis of the Lee Strand 550 at Tralee and the semi-finals of the Friends Of Newbridge A1 Derby.
