Mesedo looks to give the Blues to Champ and Hero at Greyhound Derby Consolation Final
There’s more going on at Shelbourne Park than just the €120000 Irish Greyhound Derby Final on Saturday night. Fans can also look forward to the €2000 Irish Greyhound Derby Consolation Final.
The Consolation Final will feature four hounds that were eliminated in the semi-finals, and the remaining two spots will be filled by Razldazl Lord and Killacolla Glory, both of whom were eliminated in the quarter-finals.
Colourful Champ won his first two races of the Derby before losing his last three races, two of which were lost to Tyrur Big Mike, one of the heavy favourites in the final. Champ will be racing out of the first trap, a position that he has consistently performed well from.
Foyle Storm has foiled many hounds’ plans of winning the Derby. He’s only won one race so far, a first round triumph, but he’s been a consistent longshot that has done well, beating derby favourite Farley Blitz in the third round, and Razldazl Lord in the quarter-finals.
It was expected that Mesedo Blue would make it to the semi-finals, if not the finals itself. He’ll be expected to perform well in the Consolation Final Saturday. Blue had won three straight races in the Derby before losing his last two to Big Mike.
Dromore Hero is the other semi-final loser with a chance for redemption. He won his first two races, and then hung around the Derby with third place finishes in the third round, and the quarter-finals before finishing last in his semi-final last week.
Razldazl Lord was eliminated in the quarter-finals, but performed well enough to be called on again. He has already lost to Mesedo and Foyle Storm, but don’t count him out-he was the race favourite in his quarter-final for a reason.
The other wildcard is Killacolla Glory, who squeaked into the second round by taking third place in the first round with a late charge on the home stretch. He then went on to win the second round by 6 ½ length. It was a tough draw for Glory in his quarter-final. He was a 25-1 longshot, and lost to Big Mike, Thurlesbeg Joker, who was last year’s Derby winner, and Mesedo Blue. He did manage to beat Kinda Ready, who was hoping to become just the second hound to win both an English Derby and an Irish Derby, and another strong racer in Westmead Grant.
There have been a number of upsets so far in the Derby, so expect the Consolation Final to produce more of the same.
The draw for the Consolation Final is:
1 Colorful Champ
2 Razldazl Lord
3 Foyle Storm
4 Mesedo Blue
Tags: