Upsets galore at Irish Derby Plate quarter-finals
Just before the much anticipated Irish Greyhound Derby quarter-finals Saturday night were the Irish Greyhound Derby Plate quarter-finals. Four heats of six dogs with the top three dogs of each heat advancing to the next week’s semi-finals. The derbys have been the feature races Saturday nights at Shelbourne Park for the past couple weeks.
In the first heat, Mustang Johnny trailed Royal Tornado for the first three quarters of the race until Johnny pressed at the very last moment to take first by about as tight a margin as you can see in greyhound racing. Although the two officially finished with the same time, Johnny took the win by a nose. The 2-1 race favourite, Ballyfeard Bravetook, was two lengths behind the leaders, and took third to qualify for the semi-finals. Eliminated from the Derby Plate were, Kingo, Nighthawk Boy, and Headleys Jake.
The second heat saw 7-4 race favourite, Baytown Boss, finish last as he sustained an injury after the third bend and did not finish. Three One Three led from the traps and didn’t relinquish the lead to a surging Kerrydale Farloe who took second. Dartrey Spring finished just a shoulder behind Farloe to take third place and advance. Coolcastle Jet and Monks Patriot were the other two greyhounds eliminated from the Derby Plate.
The 7-4 race favourite, Westmead Bolt, took first in the third heat with the fastest time of the day after a great start from the traps. Skywalker Queen at 2-1 and Ned From Donard at 4-1 were both expected to finish in the top three with Bolt, but instead two longshots surprised the crowd at Shelbourne Park. Tyrur Lucky lived up to his name taking second place, and Ballymac Mitsy took third, both had odds of 10-1. The other longshot, Hold On Buddy at 20-1, was the other hound to be eliminated.
The final heat of the Derby Plate saw another surprise earn a spot in next week’s semi-finals as 20-1 very longshot, Black Paws Down, took third place. Paws Down was slow out of the traps and stuck in fifth early, but was able to fight her way to fourth at the midway point of the race, and then push past Cartiers Dazzle in the final stretch, beating her by a neck. St Louis Spirit won the race with a late push himself as he passed second place finisher, Slippery Dave, after the third bend. Losing out on a chance to run in next week’s semi-finals along with Dazzle were Tyrur Dougie and race favourite Kiowa Myth.
Next week’s draws are:
HEAT 1
1 THREE ONE THREE
2 DARTREY SPRING (M)
3 SLIPPERY DAVE (M)
4 MUSTANG JOHNNY (M)
5 KERRYDALE FARLOE (W)
6 ST LOUIS SPIRIT(W)
HEAT 2
1 ROYAL TORNADO
2 BALLYMAC MITSY
3 BLACK PAWS DOWN
4 WESTMEAD BOLT
5 BALLYFEARD BRAVE
6 TYRUR LUCKY (w)
Tags: