IRISH GREYHOUND DERBY: The only thing I can say about the semi finals on Saturday night is, WOW. What a shock to see Tyrur Harold and Native Chimes get knocked out but they gave us great entertainment over the last few weeks and now we can focus all of our attention on the main event itself, the 2017 Boylesports Irish Greyhound Derby final. I can’t wait, I’m counting down the days until Saturday and I will be one of the first in Shelbourne Park as soon as them gates open so I can soak up all the excitement that the derby final has to offer with my friends and family.
Black Farren proved me wrong on Saturday in the first semi final, he was awesome. He kept gaining on the very fast away Buckos Dream but I thought Buckos was going to hold on as he had opened up a nice gap when leading. Hey Bound came home really well too, they both clearly have big engines and could surprise us all in the final. Sonic had work to do as I predicted from the draw he had in trap 3 but he still ran a great race. He was never going to catch Good News however and he is now the 13/8 favourite to win the derby win Sonic priced up at 15/8. The highlight for me was seeing Jaytee Jet qualify for yet another derby final and the passion and love Susan Hennessy and her family has for this dog is something very special, she adores the dog and ‘Ted’ as they call him back home has as much chance in this derby as the rest of them. This is now his 6th derby he has contested in and in his fifth year of his life he has proven that he is as fresh as ever and has the heart of a lion. The older the fiddle, the sweeter the tune!
I attended the derby lunch yesterday like I have done for the last few years and I always enjoy meeting the connections of the finalists and enjoy hearing their stories, and there are some really heart warming stories so let me fill you in.
Good News, owned by the lovely Sandra Guilfoyle and Mary Kennedy and trained by Patrick Guilfoyle. They turned down big money for Good News and now they are in the derby final!! The sire of Good News, Definite Opinion was of course trained by Patrick himself and won the Cesarewitch the year we were in it with Accordello! Sandra has been recovering from an illness the past year or more and she said that Good News really helped her through it and he is the king of the kennel. It would be a lovely ending for Sandra and connections if they took home the winning trophy after such a tough time. Good News has done everything right so he has a big big chance and if he hits the front, its all over.
Buckos Dream trained by one of the best in the Country Micheal J O’Donovan, was previously owned by Dave Buckley who represented connections at the lunch, top man is Dave and he had Buckos for the Red Mills stake in Kilkenny. Dave sold the dog and donated the money (€15,000) from the sale to a charity for a family whose children were sick and they needed €260,000 for treatment. It’s been like winning the derby for Dave, seeing Buckos reach the final. What a lovely thing to do. Buckos Dream is sure to lead again in the final, and on derby final night he might not be caught coming home this time and is worth a bet at his price of 5/1.
Father and son, Larry and Jack O’Shea attended the lunch on behalf of owner Richard Brown who couldn’t make it. What a great team they make. Jack is so excited to be associated with Hey Bound trained by Peter Cronin and it would be a wonderful win for them. Larry is a marvelous ambassador for our sport and has had plenty of success down through the years.
Black Farren has thirteen members in the Lion-heart syndicate and they are starting the party early this year on the Friday with about twenty or more connections coming over from the UK to support Graham Holland, Mark Wallis being one of them. Nick Cheeseman spoke to Micheal Fortune and is really looking forward to the final and thinks there is a big break in Black Farren. Graham has two dogs in the final which is a brilliant achievement, he had three in the final last year and won it with Rural Hawaii. His other dog is of course Sonic who in my opinion is the one to beat in the final. Sonic’s owners are delighted to be in the final again with him and he has his trap this Saturday. It’s twelve months on from the final last year when he finished third but he is now wiser and the spud farmer Pat Moloney is delighted with Sonic and hopes he can turn second off the first bend and power home. Could Graham Holland win the derby for the second year in a row?
Jaytee Jet is in another final as I have mentioned. He won the English derby, the Dundalk International, the Easter cup and has an unbelievable CV. Susan said the dogs owes them nothing and he might be retired after the final on Saturday. Another lovely story is Jaytee Jet’s full litter brother runs in the derby plate final Jaytee Dutch (nicknamed Baz) and how Paul came across the brothers always makes me smile. John Turner who owns all the Jaytee dogs called Paul in 2013 and wanted Paul to look after any dogs John wanted to send over for Irish competitions. Then Paul started to buy dogs for John and when he was in Kilkenny one evening he spotted the two brothers. They told Paul the smaller dog (Dutch) was better but Paul liked the look of the bigger dog (Jet) and so told John this but John said sure buy the two of them!!! So look lads, Jaytee Jet could win the derby final and his litter brother could win the derby plate!! That would be something special to witness.
So there you have it, everyone has their story. Everyone has their chance and everyone wishes each other luck. May the best dog win.
See you all Saturday night and come and bet with your number one bookmaker Yvonne Barry and if you fancy a bet without, Ray Mulvaney is your man and don’t forget to buy a copy of the Star newspaper as I will tipping up my fancies for derby night.
Sarah
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