Brothers Tyrur Big Mike and Tyrur Mcguigan set to win at Irish Greyhound Derby Final
After a long and twisted road, the €120000 Ladbrokes.com Irish Greyhound Derby Final is finally upon us. Five rounds of heats determined which greyhounds would participate in tomorrow's final at Shelbourne Park. Along the way, there have been more surprises than anyone could have expected. But brothers Tyrur Big Mike and Tyrur Mcguigan have consistently been in top form.
Big Mike has won his past four races of the Derby, losing only his first race, which was to Kinda Ready, one of the favourites that is absent from the final. Mcguigan has won four of the five rounds, losing in the second round to Freedom Seacrest, who has since been eliminated.
But the Tyrur brothers shouldn't expect the Derby to be handed to them. They’ve still got a couple other hounds to beat, but the field in the final is nothing compared to what it could be. There’s no Farley Blitz or Makeshift (they lost in the third round), there’s no Kinda Ready (he was looking to become only the second greyhound to win an English and an Irish derby), and there’s no Tyrur Enda, Westmead Grant, or Definate Opinion.
Big Mike and Mcguigan will instead be facing Barefoot Bullet, Krug Ninety Five, Tullymurry Act, and Thurlsbeg Joker. And these other racers shouldn’t be counted out just yet. Joker won the Derby last year and has certainly earned his spot in this year’s final, and Tullymurry Act won three of his five races. Of course, Act also lost to Big Mike by 5 1/2 lengths last week. Joker hasn’t fared well against Big Mike either; he’s lost his last two races in a row to him.
How about Barefoot Bullet? He lost by just a head to Mcguigan last week, but he’s also only won one race in the Derby so far. What about Krug Ninety Five? Well, he’s lost two weeks in a row to Mcguigan, and hasn’t won a race since the first round.
The fun of greyhound racing is the unpredictability, and the notion that anything can happen. That’s what gives punters the inspiration to bet on the longshot or at least against the favourite. But it’s going to be hard to bet on any hound to win tomorrow- apart from one of the Tyrur brothers.
Baring a fall, a last minute drop out, or some other random occurrence, it will be Mcguigan and Big Mike taking the top two spots in Saturday’s final. Anything other than that will be a surprise, but then again, this Derby already seen its fair share of surprises.
Here’s the draw for the Irish Greyhound Derby Final:
1 Tullymurry Act
2 Krug Ninety Five
3 Tyrur Mcguigan
4 Tyrur Big Mike
5 Thurlesbeg Joker
6 Barefoot Bullet
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