While the decision of the government to effectively ban spectators at outdoor sporting events means the stands at Shelbourne Park will be virtually empty at the weekend, there will still be huge interest in proceedings at the famous Ringsend venue as the Boylesports Derby continues.
The opening round featured some incredible performances with the most notable run coming from Champion Stakes winner Pestana. As a result, he has been promoted to favouritism to land the €115,000 to the winner blue riband and has also been rewarded with a most favourable draw on Saturday.
But this Derby is merely in its infancy and there will be plenty of plot twists in the coming weeks. This weekend could be all about redemption for a few of the bigger names. The likes of Lenson Bocko, Ballymac Cooper, Newinn Taylor, Wolfe, Newinn Lester, Skywalker Logan and Boylesports Xtra all suffered defeat last weekend. It’s safe to assume they won’t all get back to winning ways but Ballymac Cooper, Lenson Bocko and Wolfe look very likely to do so.
Lenson Bocko and Ballymac Cooper, in particular, could potentially send out a warning that they will be big players in the coming weeks. Both were seeded inside for the opening round but their connections clearly felt they would be better served by an outside draw and both will now run as wide seeds.
Of course, this year is very different to other years. With Irish greyhound closed down for three months, there are far more inexperienced greyhounds amongst the line-up than normal. It’s worth noting that of the twenty-four opening round heats winners, fifteen of them had ten or fewer starts prior to the commencement of the Derby.
These include Glengar Bale, Deadly Missile, Da Bold Eagle, Deerjet Sydney, Newinn Sheedy and Toolmaker Sydney, all of which hold lofty positions in the outright betting.
It’s an incredible statistic and one that highlights how many remain open to improvement. With so many hugely promising youngsters likely to step up on form in the coming weeks, the established performers really will need to be at their very best.
The second round will be run over Friday and Saturday with eight heats on both nights. As we speak there are 95 dogs remaining in the competition following the withdrawal of Droopys Wyatt. By the end of proceedings on Saturday, only 48 greyhounds will remain.
Much like a golf major, the third round, which is referred to as ‘moving day’, is when the real drama starts to happen. By that point owners, breeders, trainers are starting to get excited and can make mistakes in their preparations.
It’s also the point in the competition when many of the substandard competitors have been eliminated leading to some ultra-competitive racing. With that in mind, its great news that Racing Post Television are going to be showing the Boylesports Derby live from next week’s third round onwards. RPGTV is available on the sky platform on channel 175 or can also be viewed live on greyhoundbet.racingpost.com/.
