Holdem Spy To Star In Round 2 Of Derby

The 2nd round of this year’s Boylesports Irish Greyhound Derby gets underway on Thursday and we have eight top class races to dig our teeth into.

Arguably the race of the entire 2nd round is heat 5 as Pennys Deanridge, Skywalker Farloe and Holdem Spy all take each other on. There are plenty of other high profile battles spread out across the card, for example the battle of the Owen McKenna trained 1st round winner Vanfrankie and the fastest winner last Thursday night, Vimmerby. Also the fastest winner of the entire opening round Laughil Blake is also in action.

Blake runs in heat 3 from trap 6 and after his hugely impressive opening round win, he will go to traps the favourite to remain unbeaten in this year’s event. Blake was flawless in his opening round win and if this young pup can continue to show the early which he produced last week, I feel he could go very far in this year’s Derby.

It is not going to be straight-forward for Blake as he is going to have to overcome the likes of Paradise Maverik, Vulturi and Cabra Buck. Maverik has won his last 3 starts at Shelbourne and this strong running sort will look to use his favourable trap draw in trap 1 to challenge late. Vulturi has a similar running style to Maverik, he may lack early pace but, few in this year’s competition will be finishing faster and if he too can turn close then, watch out!

Cabra Buck, after his opening round defeat, will be looking for redemption and to put to bed the claims that he may be past his best and if he is to feature in this tough heat, Buck will need one of his flying starts and lead to the bend. Blake for me though will go on to win this heat because I feel this pup is improving with each run and I think he will go to the bend with Cabra Buck, outpace him down the back and I feel he will be too far ahead of Maverik and Vulturi.

Race 7 on the card will be the race which people will be most looking forward to see because there are so many questions which need to be answered, Can Pennys Deanridge repeat last week’s run and hold off the big two finishers? Can Skywalker Farloe really improve enough to win after disappointing 7 days earlier? Has Holdem Spy improved much fitness wise in 5 days and has his recent injury had any impact after last weeks run? And finally the big question, who will win if Farloe and Spy turn together off the 2nd bend??

It really is such an eagerly awaited clash and it is sure to be a betting frenzy with so many split opinions. I feel as though Pennys will lead to the bend but, he may be exactly what the other two need as he is sure to set a strong gallop which may spread out the field.

Skywalker Farloe ran well below his best and it is expected that he will improve significantly for the run,

…as he had not raced in a while.

He will need to improve and I also feel he will need to be in front of Holdem Spy at the 2nd bend if he is to win this heat. I feel the winner of this heat will be Holdem Spy. He came back from injury very well last week and despite being picked up near the finish, I think he can make amends.

Spy ran very well until the final bend last week, he picked up the race much earlier than normal and I feel it was a mixture of lack of race fitness and Spy feeling he had done enough to win that cost him. If Pennys sets a strong pace I expect him to fly home late and grab the win.

Heat 6 is a cracking race which is also with plenty of possibilities, the top of the betting will be dominated by Vimmerby and Vanfrankie but, rule out General Wolf at your peril. The start in this heat will be vital as all the market leaders will be looking to take that hugely important early advantage.

Johnny Kavanagh’s Vimmerby for me is the most consistent starter and for that reason I would give him a slight preference over the other two. He does need to dictate this race from the front but, generally he is a very reliable starter and I think he will be hard to beat. General Wolf never runs a bad race and if the top two were to make any slight mistake, then General Wolf will exploit it.

Wolf must be careful he doesn’t find trouble at the bend as there is loads of early in this race and if he doesn’t start well he may be in trouble. Vanfrankie is much younger than the other two so inexperience could be an issue but, also he is the one with the most potential for improvement. He does not need much more improvement to be a strong contender in this year’s competition but, he will need to consistently start as well as he did last week.