Sarah’s Friday Night BoyleSports IGD Round-Up

After all the anticipation and waiting, the 2020 BoyleSports Irish Greyhound Derby kicked off at the weekend with 12 heats on Friday and another 12 on Saturday.

To sum it all up in just one word…Ronseal. It did exactly what it said it would do and that was to give us some exhilaration whether you were at the track or at home. There were 24 incredible winners followed by numerous gallant efforts in behind for the qualifiers but the standout award of the week goes to……PESTANA.

Pestana The Star
Well done to Owen McKenna and his team; this BoyleSports Champion Stakes winner was electric into the first turn once he got going having dived towards the fence when he broke. The tough draw of trap five made no odds to this champ as he crossed the line in the fastest time of the opening round clocking 29.21 and has trap one in the second round which has seen him become the new 8/1 favourite for the Derby from 12/1.

Blink and you will miss him.

Razldazl Peaky ran on for second with Redzer Ardfert third and Laughil Josh grabbing fourth.

In card order..

Bess The Best
Roanna Bess was quite impressive to land the opener on Friday in 29.45, she showed plenty of pace on just her 7th career start bringing her tally of wins to four. Neilus O’Connell’s dogs always run well and consistent, with Razldazl Annie finishing second.

Pat Buckley’s Future Star
How eye-catching was Glengar Bale for Pat Buckley who is now 14/1 from 16/1 for the Derby with sponsors BoyleSports? 29.40 he clocked, with a strong sectional of 3.48 and 17.06 looking very strong as he pulled clear down the back straight. Burgess Puma was second and this lightly raced son of Skywalker Puma for Sheila Spillane and J. J. Fennelly looks like the type of dog who will improve plenty.

Toolmaker Sydney 16/1 From 20/1 for Derby title & Cheers for Paddy
Newinn Taylor lost his unbeaten record but that’s nothing to be negative about, this greyhound has just come up to HQ after winning the Produce Stakes so all he needed to do was qualify and secure his place in the second round.

He led from the first bend after walking out of the traps, but this is where Toolmaker Sydney shone as he led from the last bend to win in 29.72 for Robert Gleeson with Waikiki Keano second for Peter Cronin. Taylor is still 12/1 in the outright.

Model Margaret Bolton (whose father Tommy Bolton is the groundsman at Shelbourne Park) got her Towstar Paddy through to the next round and his syndicate have been on to me, they are absolutely buzzing, so best of luck lads I hope you go far.

Deerjet Impresses

Deerjet Sydney was a greyhound I highlighted as one of the bigger priced dogs to look out for at 33/1.

Pat Buckley has a fabulous kennel with plenty of bright stars and to clock 29.39 after a fast start was excellent. He definitely needs the rails, but he drove on in professional fashion and he is now 20/1, I really like this dog. The 2019 champion Lenson Bocko was third.

Catch Me If You Can
Catchmeflying was deadly for Thomas Buggy. I put up a video a few weeks ago when he won in 28.26 for the 525 yards and told you all to add him to your notebook.

He was very good in his heat on Friday to clock 29.36, a powerful performance to win by five lengths to one of Shelbourne Park’s most loved greyhounds, Beechview Cognac for May Kearns, who overcame his tricky draw in five. But this heat was about trap six Catchmeflying who now has 11 wins from 7 starts.

Jack Has The Solution
There were plenty of people tipping up Jacks Solution in heat 7, the Produce Stakes runner up to Newinn Taylor. He won in 29.45 with a very fast sectional of 3.35 and ran HQ really well.

Ballymac Cooper had his seeding changed to an inside, but it didn’t go to plan and he has been changed to a middle. He finished second with Knight Rocker for Ollie Bray third and Storys Derek in six fourth for Murt Leahy.

Anton Is Back
I love Ballymac Anton and just Liam Dowling’s kennel in general. They never fail in producing their stars in top order with the St. Leger and Gold Cup hero Ballymac Anton doing what he does best to win in 29.69.

Ripley Lad was second four lengths back and there were HUGE cheers from John Durrigan as Ferdia in trap four grabbed fourth. Well done John!

Grand Slam Champ!

Gerwyn Price won the 2019 BoyleSports Grand Slam of Darts in Wolverhampton and now has a dog running in our Derby!

His Grandslam Champ finished third in heat 9 for him and trainer Paul Hennessy but it was Liam O’Rourke who had the winner. Ropewalk Bhoy was gutsy and won in 30.03 from Cushie Wayne in second. I grabbed an interview with Debbie O’Rourke after the race so best of luck with him Debbie.

Catunda Cruises
Catunda Logan was a 29.56 winner of heat 10 and was very fast from traps to make all from the inside draw. He opened up a nice lead but Unlock Unlock came from lengths off the pace to finish second beaten just one length and is a bitch to keep an eye on for the Matthews team.

Indesatchel Has It In The Bag
Graham Holland got onto the winner’s board with Indesatchel who recorded his first ever win in 29.51 on his fourth career start. A really nice type with a big engine as he chased down early leader Athlacca Zette from trap four for Noel Neenan from Limerick.

I caught up with Noel after his race as this was his first ever runner at Shelbourne Park and he was thrilled with his dog’s performance. We look forward to seeing you back at HQ next week Noel, this lad took to the track very well indeed.

Missile Launches For O’Donovan
The last heat from Friday went to Deadly Missile, the dog who nearly broke Tyrur Van Gaal’s 29.10 550 record with 29.13 the week previous. BoyleSports Xtra ran a stormer for the boss but Deadly Missile was too good and he clocked 29.60 for young trainer Mark O’Donovan. A fantastic race to end the night.

I will report back with Saturday’s round up soon!

Every heat winner got €300 and this coming Friday and Saturday we do it all over again as 16 heats will take place across the two nights. I can’t wait. Thanks for all the lovely comments on my social media, you are all so nice. If you want to follow me:

Twitter: @BoyleSportsSK

Instagram: sarahkinsella3

Facebook: Sarah Kinsella

Stay safe and join me next Friday where we will do it all over again!

Sarah