No Stopping The Honey Monster

What more can we say about Ballydoyle Honey? She had never ran from a trap further out then four so maybe there was a slight chance it could upset her! Not a chance, this female is bullet proof.

She got off to a slow start but paced up well to the corner and kept her line. The way she just changed gears around the opening two bends was unbelievable.

She ran around a good class of bitches up front like they were standing still and just kicked on once getting clear. With every stride she was drawing further and further clear and ended up eight lengths clear of the field up the home straight stopping the clock in a fabulous 28.18.

There was a right battle for second place here as Honey’s litter sister Hovex Princess (16/1) got the better of Jumeirah Dancer (8/1) after crowding between the last two bends, Hovex to her credit is running on every night and deserves her place in the final.

Jumeirah Dancer is bidding to make it a family double for owner Jimmy Buckley after his brother Tadgh trained the winner for his father Mike last year, Velvet All Jam.

The second semi-final had a very close finish with less than a length and a half separating the first four ladies home. Ravenswood Emily (20/1) made good use of her draw on the rails as she raced to the opening turn just behind Awaywithdepixys (33/1) who set the early gallop, Emily saved a lot of ground on the fence and took up the lead off the second corner.

From here the order remained the same as the two outsiders of the field raced first and second with Piercetown Lucy (16/1) occupying third position. Tyrur Mairead arrived on the scene between the last two corners but couldn’t get a run at them. Emily was in control when they reached the line a short head in front of Awaywithdepixys and Lucy a length back in third.

The final on paper looks one way traffic as it is Honey’s to lose from trap one.

She has raced seven times from the red box and has seven wins, her four most recent efforts are 27.95, 28.31, 28.09 and 27.86! If you don’t fancy backing the favourite at 1/7 we have a betting without market available and it’s 15/8 the field.

LIGHTNING BOLT IN RACE OF CHAMPIONS

Paul and Mary Jennings seem to have a liking for Boylesports money, they collected off us three times last year. Laughil Blake took the Derby and the Night Of Stars 550 and Laughil Bolt came away with the Derby Plate last year for his troubles. They are now trying to make it a clean sweep of prizes this weekend in Tralee.

After a stunning 28.15 525 trial first look at the Kingdom track Bolt put in a huge effort in his semi-final to get the better of Irish Laurels’ hero, Midtown Raffa (4/1).

Both these runners came away racing from traps but Raffa just showed the superior early pace to take the lead off bend two. Bolt ranged up outside Raffa half way down the back straight and took control of the race approaching the third corner, Bolt kept up a strong gallop to the line and stopped the clock in 29.60 and was a length in front of Raffa who just held on from the fast finishing Rural Hawaii (11/2) in third.

The second semi-final was the fastest of the two where old stager Paradise Silva (7/4) flew from the traps and after his sparkling 28.01 trial two weeks previous, you knew he was going to do a serious clock.

Silva has great knowledge of this circuit as this is where he began his racing career back in February 2013. If Sliva can get on the rails at all he is a very hard dog to beat.

Sidarian Vega (9/2) looked to be his only danger when he turned second to him down the back straight and closed the gap a small bit but Vega seemed to tie up a bit on the run home. Budgie Bypass (25/1) just stole second place by a neck with a very strong finish after his recent exploits in the UK.

Silva had four lengths to spare over this pair in fastest of the night 29.55. On the trap draw in the final we are giving the vote to Laughil Bolt (11/4), he has a tricky draw in four but with his strong early pace he can clear the two dogs in five and six. Silva is his biggest danger. A great night is expected in Tralee where the night will be run in conjunction with Kerry GAA and will be shown on live on RTE. A number of competitions will be held on the night. It will be a night not to be missed!

GAIN 600

The opening round of the Gain 600 took place last Saturday night with all the fancied runners getting through. Ante post favourite Ballymac Matt (11/4) got back to winnings ways after a luckless trip to Wimbledon. He seemed to appreciate the step up in trip and thrived on the longer run to the bend, he got the better of old warrior Greenwell Hulk (7/1) who I thought ran extremely well after getting knocked over only seven days beforehand – the time here was 32.67.

Final Hawk (7/1) upset recent Con and Ann Kirby winner Cable Bay (7/2) in the opening heat, Hawk got away to the better start and built up a bit of an advantage down the far side, Cable Bay had to do a lot of running to get as close as he did but just failed by a head in 32.57.

The honour of the fastest time in the opening round went to the PJ Fahy owned Tyrur Hagler (20/1) who also really appreciates the long run to the corner, he led from start to finish in 32.51. He represents huge value in the ante post market.

The final heat went to the Frazer Black trained Droopys Bomber (16/1), who was taking a step back in trip. He is a confirmed stayer and seems to like the Ringsend circuit. As well as the Oaks final we also have the final of the ECC Timber puppy stake priced up where Balline Bolt (5/2) and Offshore Bound (9/4) dispute favouritism.

We are down to the last twelve in the English Greyhound Derby; it’s as good a Derby as we have seen in recent years and we are really looking forward to the semi-finals this coming weekend. We have both semi-finals plus a number of specials priced up on www.Boylesports.com and are ready for battle again.

There are also a number of specials priced up for the Boylesports Race Of Champions including odd versus even traps, winning distance and winning trainer. Elsewhere we also have markets on the Munster Derby in Clonmel and the Longford Derby. #BetOnBoyle for all things greyhounds!