The Irish certainly know how to produce a strong breed of big competition runners. This year they will be represented in the 2010 Williamhill.com English Derby final with half the field, so will this provide them with half a chance of stealing the prestigious title?
Irish trainer Dolores Ruth currently holds the ace for Saturday night in the form of Toomaline Jack, the current 4-5 favourite for the final meeting after showing great consistency throughout his Derby campaign.
Jack is also the current track record holder at the new Wimbledon track (28.25sec) and with a gifted trap five start, things would have to go horribly wrong in order for him to lose.
Krug Ninety Five will also make his journey from the County Kildare town of Rathangan to Wimbledon for the final. The Fraser Black-trained charge has surprised many by reaching this stage and will be beside another Irish hound in trap four.
Oran Classic has been given the so-called jinxed trap one box, which has failed to produce an English Derby winner in 25 years. He may have not had the best of starts but has managed to reach this stage and all credit goes to him for that.
The Irish Greyhound Derby runner-up was also a nominee for Irish Greyhound of the year but missed out to College Causeway as he did in the race. It would be foolish to rule him out as he does have the ability to go all the way, and if the final was at Shelbourne Park he would near enough be a favourite.
This year’s competition is more competitive than ever. Legendry trainer Charlie Lister remains very much in the frame with Bandicoot Tipoki, who offers great value at 4-1 and has shown that he can eliminate any competition on his day.
Champion trainer Mark Wallis will also be joining Lister with one Derby hopeful, again represented with the underdog - this time it’s Adageo (33-1).
Adageo will be making a suited wide trap start. It’s hard to imagine him replicating last year’s scenario when Kinda Ready brought the title to the Imperial kennel, but his unpredictability may just pay off on the night when it counts most.
European Derby Champion Lyreen Mover represents Hungary and is one of two greyhounds in the final not to be beaten in the earlier stages of the competition. He has been drawn in trap two and I believe he may face early problems due to Oran Classic’s running style.
Regardless of the threat the Irish face, my money lies on Toomaline Jack. Some may say his odds don’t have much value but you would expect that from a dog that’s been so consistent.
The winner will land a £75,000 prize on Saturday night and will most likely be entered into this year’s Ladbrokes Irish Greyhound Derby which is set to commence in August and has an even bigger prize of €120,000 up for grabs.
Live Sky Sports televised final draw:
T1 Oran Classic, T2 Lyreen Mover, T3 Bandicoot Tipoki, T4 Krug Ninety Five (m), T5 Toomaline Jack (w), T6 Adageo (w)
Bettor.com Predictions
5 + 2 + 3
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