Favourites A Popular Result For Bookies

This coming weekend is a massive one in the Irish Greyhound Racing calendar with the finals of both the Irish Laurels and the Puppy Derby down for decision.

Surprisingly having a look at the Ante-Post books for both competitions, we at Boylesports will be cheering on the favourites in both finals as they are currently good results from our point of view.

On Friday night at Harolds Cross we will witness the final of the 2014 Irish Puppy Derby where there will be €22,500 up for grabs for the winner and there is a cracking final in prospect. The favourite for the final is the Owen McKenna trained youngster Farloe Blitz who has been scintillating on his route to the final by remaining unbeaten.

The son of Premier Fantasy is currently 8/11 with Boylesports to win the final and surprisingly from a bookmaking point of view, it would not be a bad result for us. The biggest loser we have in the book is the well drawn Minglers Trio who will race from red jacket in trap one, we saw significant support for him at fancy prices throughout and even his current 6/1 price is proving quite popular. The ex-Owen McKenna trained Quietly has also seen some solid movement in the book, he is now trained by Ian Reilly and with his lightning quick early speed it would be no surprise to see him outrun his current price of 5/1.

For me, I think the market has got it right; you could make a case for all six finalists but, on what we have seen so far in the competition I think Farloe Blitz is definitely the one to beat. Blitz has beaten 5 of the six finalists on his passage to the final and has been consistently been posting some rapid times over the 525 yard trip.

He has posted the fastest sectional of all finalists and he has also posted the fastest overall time of the six runners, he has also won from trap four already in the competition so for me he will be very tough to beat on Friday night.

On Saturday night all the focus will switch to Curraheen Park for the final of the 2014 Irish Laurels and looking at the six finalists taking part, this too is sure to live up to all expectations. In the betting book, it is Farloe Calvin who would be our worst loser followed by the Graham Holland trained Vans Viking. Calvin is currently available at 5/1 with Boylesports and we have seen some decent bets laid on him throughout the competition.

Vans Viking was well backed prior to his semi-final win last week and he too would not be a great result from a bookmakers point of view. It is again surprising to see that the favourite is not actually a bad result for us but, that could all change as we move closer to Saturday and I’m sure people will get involved with the jolly Sidarian Blaze at 7/4 to win the €30,000 winners prize. Blaze is a kennel mate of Vans Viking who is available with us at 5/2 and following on from his impressive success in the semi-final, I would not be surprised if he was our worst loser come final time.

I think that of the six finalists, Sidarian Blaze is the fastest dog in the field, he showed this in his win of the Boylesports Race of Champions and in his impressive victory on this year’s Boylesports Irish Greyhound Derby night.

He is yet to take a flier from traps in the Laurels but, if he can find a fast start on Saturday night, I would expect him to take all the beating. He has got a lovely draw in trap 2 and even if doesn’t get a lightning start, I can still see him tucking in behind Farloe Calvin going down the back and proving too strong at the finish.

From a value perspective you would have to mention Farloe Calvin, he is one of the fastest starters and railers in the country which will give him a chance having been drawn against the fence in Trap 1, so if you want to take on the market principals he represents a touch of value at 5/1.