IRISH GREYHOUND DERBY, SECOND HEAT: Well the second batch of twelve heats in round one took place last night in Shelbourne Park and there were plenty of shock winners and cracking times recorded. The standard is pretty class in this years Derby and the Duke posted a savage clock of 29.45. Riverside Pat should of been christened Postman Pat as he delivered a letter with 29.49 all over it and really did fly from traps with a 3.38 split. Wow. The main feature of the night was race six with Ballydoyle Honey racing from trap three. She didn’t break and couldn’t get a run up to the first bend but as anticipated she made up plenty of ground to get up for second place. The question remains that would she able to come from behind the likes of Ballymac Matt or Gyp Rosetti? We have seen what these dogs can do once they hit the front and Honey may struggle to go past these fast pace setters. I hope I am wrong though and can’t wait to see her battle with the top guns.
So I was speaking to Lenny O Hanlon last night after his dog Ballymac Ricky won the third race in 29.87 and led all the way from trap one. Says I to Lenny, there was plenty of noise being made on the stand for him and rightly so as Lenny backed the dog that morning at a whopping 16/1!! Delighted for Lenny, this is the stuff you like to hear. About seven years ago Lenny had a dog good enough to run in the Derby and at the time there were really bad floods and there was traffic everywhere and road closures so Lenny was never going to make weight in or even the first race so he turned his van around and went home sulking. Seven years on he now has a dog good enough to compete again and needless to say Lenny arrived in Shelbourne Park last night with arm bands on his dog Ricky and a dinghy tied on to the back of the van, just in case the floods re-appeared! A great start to Lenny’s Derby dream and I hope it continues for him, he is a top lad who puts his heart and soul into his dogs.
I was also talking to Gerry Merriman and he thinks a lot of his champ Highview Apollo. He says he wants the rails badly but he still won from trap six and really was impressive. Gerry thinks he will go a long way in this years Derby and is very hopeful.
The stand was nearly full to the brim Saturday night and there were plenty of people punting, I stood beside Vinny Grennan for some of the heats and we couldn’t agree on any of our predictions, however I picked more winners as I told him Galway would beat Tipperary and by God I was right, what a brilliant game of hurling, P.J Fahy will be buzzin after that! The bookmakers must of won most of their money back from Thursday night but its only the second round now so there are lots of opportunities to clear them out again, sorry Ted!
I must mention this and it is really big news, the coffee machine is BACK in the cafe downstairs and OMG I was sooooo excited when I seen it there. Myself and Noeleen Bray love our latte’s and always get one from the carvery section but I was forever asking Pat Flynn to get the proper machine back in the cafe because it was epic coffee so thanks Pat. They are also doing Pizza now and the selection of cakes and buns has gotten better. Great news, but not great news for my waistline.
Eight heats will take place this Thursday and Ballydoyle Honey races in the last heat against Gyp Rosetti and Rural Hawaii, what a cracker of a race this is going to be. Farloe Blitz is in the first heat and it looks like he will win again. As Matt Chapman says ‘Im pumped as a pumped thing, yeeeehaaaaaaw’. I love Matt, full of vibrancy and fun and always upbeat. We should get him over here to present the final on RTE, just for the craic!
Looking forward to seeing you all Thursday.
Till then.
Sarah
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