Thursday the 17th sees the start of the Irish Greyhound Derby at Shelbourne. For those who thought that the atmosphere at the English Derby Final is fantastic should add a night at the Irish equivalent onto their bucket list. Not only is Dublin one of the finest cities for a night out, the track crackles with a feel that no other track can provide. Our greyhound tips are live before 6pm every day and have been in flying form for the last couple of months. Our expert tips and guide for the 2017 Irish Greyhound Derby are below, including best prices and when their first round heat is run.
It is no easy task to make the final of an English Derby and then maintain the form less than two months later for the Irish equivalent, but if any hound is going to be capable, it’s this one. This track suits him better than Towcester did, the sign of the sheer class of the dog that he made a Derby Final at a track he never entirely looked comfortable on. He won over this course and distance earlier in the month in 29.30, clocking 29.19 last year here. 29.65, 29.63, 29.50, 29.79 and 29.39 have won the final the last five years so if he can hold it all together, there is no doubting he is the dog to beat and fully deserves to be a red hot favourite.
Winner of two five round competitions already in 2017 (Produce Stakes and Laurels) he is a competition hound through and through. He is an all round performer, solid early pace, smart middle and he stays this extended four bend trip strongly. It is his trackcraft that sets him apart from normal hounds, finishing no worse than fourth in nineteen career races, he has finished in the first three in seventeen of them. The perfect type for this test, quick, smart and doesn’t know how to run a bad race, he should keep on qualifying through the rounds even if he finds trouble.
Set a new track record over this trip at Longford in June, he hasn’t quite got to grips with Shelbourne yet, despite clocking 29.44. Early pace is his most potent weapon, running fields ragged from the front. He was just run down close to the line in his last race by Sonic, no disgrace as that hound is an incredibly strong runner over this trip, finishing third in the final of the competition in 2016. That gives an indication of what ‘Harold’ is capable of if he can consistently show his best form in the coming weeks. With just eleven races in his career, he should be capable of better yet.
Exited the English Derby in the first round, getting worried out of things at the first bend having missed the up. Drawn inside Clares Rocket that day, he went toe to toe with that hound all the way to the bend, indicative of the bundles of early pace this hound possesses. He was just run out of things in the Champion Stakes Final here last time by Jaytee Yankee who nudged up his inside at the first bend. He clocked a very smart 29.27 in the semi finals of that competition, if he keeps trapping, he should keep qualifying for a long way in this competition.
Tough for a bitch in against the boys but this girl has some spectacular early boot. She was only a length off the 480m track record at Youghal at the end of July, a time four lengths quicker than any other dog has produced at that track in 2017. She clocked a 28.19 over the 480m trip here when winning her semi final of the Christmas Oaks, so she has no issues with this track. The extra distance is a bit of an unknown with her, but like ‘Jack’ above, if she keeps pinging the lids, she looks set to be in this for the long haul.