Melbourne Nurse New Rose Of Tralee Joint Favourite

The long-time favourite for the Rose of Tralee has competition at the top of the betting after the hopefuls were whittled down to 32 ahead of the conclusion to this year’s festival on Tuesday.

London Rose Grainne Hawkes, a 26 year-old law graduate, had been as short as 5/2 to be crowned Rose of Tralee and still leads the betting despite a drift out to 4/1 over the last week. But she now has company at 4/1 in the form of the Melbourne Rose Suzie Jackson, who started out as a 33/1 outsider when the market opened.

BoyleSports had already received a significant number of bets on the 27 year-old nurse, seeing her crash all the way into 5/1 second favourite before she made the final cut ahead of the televised finale next week.

Carlow Rose Shauna Rey Lacey, a deputy manager in a BoyleSports shop, also made the final cut and has since been supported into 12/1. She was a 20/1 shot when betting opened but is now the fourth favourite to be crowned the winner on Tuesday evening.

It’s amazing how popular our Rose of Tralee betting is, with customers around the country so keen to support their favourite Rose.

A London Rose has been crowned the winner three times in the event’s history and this year’s representative Grainne Hawkes remains on course for another win, despite support for some of her nearest rivals pouring in over the past 24 hours.

*Prices correct at time of publication.