Lenson Tightens Grip On BoyleSports Derby Favouritism

Lenson Bocko ran his 11th race on Saturday night as the ante post favourite for the BoyleSports Irish Greyhound Derby at 9/2.

Following his blistering performance at HQ, the Graham Holland star is now 2/1.

Bocko scooted round in 29.27, the exact same time he recorded when winning his third-round heat seven days previously. It seems that this son of Droopys Jet – Melodys Diamond, is improving every week. Of the four rounds he has ran in this derby he has won three of them with clocks of 29.47 and 29.27 twice. This speedster was 4/5 to win his heat on Saturday night and obliged for favourite backers with another paw perfect display to win by seven and a half lengths.

Run Happy was second after getting a lovely run around the first bend wearing the red jacket but he was no match for Bocko. Run Happy is 16/1 in the outright, eased from 14/1. Deadly Dynamite who recorded 29.59 in the opening round, finished third and is 40/1 unchanged in the ante post.

Magical Bale never fails to amaze as he cruised round Shelbourne Park in heat three in superb fashion clocking 29.35, his best clock in the derby so far.

Bale has been trimmed into 5/2 from 6/1 following his epic success

…to hold off Ballydoyle Valor and the wonderful Killmacdonagh. Patrick Guilfoyle’s mighty Bale now has 18 wins from 30 starts and he sets such a high standard in this competition. He went off as the 5/4 favourite and nothing was going to catch him.

His consistency should see him book into a third derby final as he secured trap one again in the semi-finals this Saturday. Ballydoyle Valor ran a gutsy race to qualify and he is now 25/1 from 50/1. Killmacdonagh made up serious ground to grab third spot with her odds at 7/1, eased slightly from 6/1. She gave herself an awful lot of work to do but ran a remarkable race that left racegoers in awe yet again.

Sophies Man could land Peter Cronin his first Irish greyhound derby title after his fantastic effort to win heat two in 29.45. Like a lot of greyhounds in this derby, Sophies Man has youth on his side with just 11 races and 3 wins on his card.

He snuck into this derby as a dark horse with his odds now 16/1, slashed from 33/1.

He fought hard to win on Saturday and improved on his clock he ran in the first round of 29.55. The powerhouse BoyleSports King grabbed second spot and is now a massive mover into 8/1 from 25/1.

He has a huge chance of landing John Boyle his first derby as he possesses a serious amount of pace which is what’s needed in this highly competitive competition. Mucky Brae qualified in third from trap four after losing his lead to Sophies Man at the first turn as Mucky badly wanted the rails. He is now 16/1 unchanged for Michael J O’Donovan.

The final heat of the night saw Music Toour Ears taking an absolute flyer from trap one only to be headed by the winner Murts Boher late down the back straight. Graham Holland had a fantastic night and Murts Boher is a credit to the top trainer. He skipped around in 29.61, the identical clock from his win the previous week. He is now 25/1 in the ante post market, cut from 40/1. The tiring Music Toour Ears is 33/1 from 40/1 with Our Surprise at 20/1, cut from 33/1. Our Surprise got into all sorts of trouble so the pace he showed was extremely eye catching.

*Prices correct at time of publication.