Sarah Kinsella’s BoyleSports IGD Final Review

As the dust settles, it’s time to reflect on what was an incredible six weeks of greyhound racing as the 2019 BoyleSports Irish Greyhound Derby came to a close on Saturday night.

It’s always sad to see the curtain come down on the final night as when I woke up on Sunday morning it felt like something was missing. The derby is the best part of the year and this year saw a wonderful winner in Lenson Bocko. Congratulations to Graham and Nikki Holland and your daughter Rachael, son’s Chris and Timmy.

You all done a marvellous job and represented the derby throughout extremely well with top class performances as did all the trainers, owners and connections. We have faced an almighty battle this year as a greyhound family and still have a long road ahead of us, but I’m so proud of our sport. We all pulled together and filled Shelbourne Park with so much love, passion, energy and enthusiasm, well done to all of you and in the words of Kevin Hennessy, LONG LIVE GREYHOUND RACING.

Lenson Bocko
Lenson Bocko, what a little diamond you are, a big loser for the BoyleSports book though as he was well supported from the very start and the support never ceased as he was one of the original favourites.

He was a fantastic winner, he battled so hard to win in 29.40 to claim the massive prize of €140,000.

His connections filled the Oaks suite upstairs in HQ and they celebrated long into the early hours of Sunday morning. I even heard them talking about brining the trophy to Coppers night club so I hope you all had a blast and I’m sure the party is still ongoing.

Lenson Bocko has plenty more to give and I can’t wait see where he goes next as I’m sure the crowd will follow. The Laurels is starting soon so we will definitely see plenty of the derby stars down in the Rebel county. Bocko was a worthy favourite and now has a record of 11 wins from 13 starts. Wow.

Pat Buckley and his team must have lost their voices screaming for Run Happy. What a cracking effort he put in. He caught my eye months ago and it was so lovely to watch him progress into the dog he is now. It’s never easy to lead all the way and get caught on the line. You would rather finish stone last then a short head but that’s greyhound racing, that’s what makes it and the final didn’t disappoint. WHAT A FINISH from BoyleSports King,

John Boyle is absolutely thrilled with his performance and Dolores came up to the box at the end of the night which wasn’t an easy thing for her to do. Greyhound racing is full of disappointment but so is life so when those magical moments do happen, it makes it all that more special.

My eyes filled with tears on Saturday night when thinking about Michael Fortune, he would have loved all the action and he would have probably tipped up the winner from months back. He had a great eye for a good greyhound and it just wasn’t the same without him.

The Michael Fortune Memorial Plate was won by Graham Holland also with Blue East landing the spoils in 29.39, one spot faster than the final. What might have been for this Kingdom Derby winner but a wonderful victory with his kennel mate taking second spot, Clonbrien Prince.

We hope we did you proud Michael and we hope you enjoyed a pint of Guinness as you commentated from the skies. RIP my friend, we miss you.

Delighted for Peter Cronin winning the Consolation race with Sophies Man, an excellent display with Droopys Pension in second. Sophies Man is still lightly raced and young so we will see plenty more of him too. Can we all just take a moment though to congratulate REDZER ARDFERT.

What a show stopping win to break his own track record of 41.06 to smash it and clock 40.86.

Jesus. I was sitting in the RTE studio ( which was super cool and kept us out of the rain ) and when he broke in front I said to Sarina and Ger Canning this is all over. Redzer was magnificent, congrats to Brendan Maunsell and the owners Pat Redden and Kathleen Clifford. What a greyhound to have.

I can’t go without mentioning Ballyanne Sim, the 2018 BoyleSports Irish Greyhound Derby winner. He cruised around HQ to clock 28.25. Well done to his connections, it was great to see him on the winning podium again. Also what a night for Holland Slippy Cian and Lenson Blinder won too.

The drama, the action, the fun, the atmosphere, everything was just brilliant but 8 favourites from 13 won on Saturday night so lets spare a thought for the bookies!!

That’s it folks, that is the end of the derby for this year but the Puppy Derby started last Friday and the Laurels is starting this week so the greyhound action continues.

THANK YOU all so much from the bottom of my heart for all the support and for reading my blogs throughout the derby, It’s a privilege for me to promote and advertise such a wonderful sport and BoyleSports are so proud to sponsor an iconic classic. Keep smiling, keep positive, keep showing the world that our greyhounds mean everything and without them our lives would be a very lonely and sad place.

See you all at the track.

Much love, Sarah x