Pat Guilfoyle’s Explosive Boy Favourite For €80,000 Con & Annie Kirby Memorial

The final of the 2021 Con & Annie Kirby Memorial is going to be a thrilling contest with one of the early antepost fancies, Explosive Boy, now the new favourite.

This Patrick Guilfoyle-trained superstar obliged for favourite backers last Saturday as he skipped around Limerick Stadium to win in the exact same time of his opening round performance, 28.08, five lengths ahead of Agent Stanley.

He is now the one to beat at 5/4 from 2/1, meaning he is the new stand alone favourite to win the €80,000 prize.

Dublin based trainer Marie Gilbert has done an outstanding job with Agent Stanley and although he was five lengths behind Explosive Boy, he is drawn in trap one in the final which has seen his odds shrink into 4/1 from 10/1, with a high of 50/1 available in the earlier rounds.

The third qualifier in this heat was Ballymac Merlin for Liam Dowling who is the 25/1 outsider from 33/1.

Stonepark Leo was the second semi-final winner in 28.25 and there no catching this son of Ballymac Best – Adamant Gem, for the youngest trainer in the competition Mark O’Donovan.

Leo was 66/1 before the first round but has gradually been trimmed into just 5/1 and has every chance wearing the stripes. The brilliant Singalong Sally was just a neck behind in second place for Pat Buckley with her odds being eased out to 9/2 from 2/1 , with trap four a tricky draw for this lady who relishes the rails.

De Machine grabbed the last qualifying spot for Brendan Matthews and he has been well-backed to win another Con & Annie Kirby Memorial for the Northern Ireland based trainer. The aptly named De Machine is 4/1 for the big win this Saturday with those odds trimmed from 6/1.

*Prices correct at time of publication

Bet here.