AFTER weeks of preparation and Derby Trial Stakes hosted around the county, the first round of the BoyleSport Irish Greyhound Derby 2015 at Shelbourne Park Greyhound Stadium commences this week.The event, which is the most prestigious event in the Irish Greyhound Calendar has a total prize fund of €240,000.
The Irish Greyhound Derby has been running since 1928, receiving classic status in 1932, with race sponsors BoyleSports coming onboard last year to partner one of the longest running tests of champions on the Greyhound racing calendar. This year’s final on Saturday 19th September coincides with The All Ireland Football Final weekend and former Dublin Footballer Ciaran Whelan was on hand to help launch the campaign back in June.
This will be BoyleSports second year of a three-year deal, they have been instrumental in Shelbourne Park Sponsorship for a number of years with the Champions Stakes and more recently The Race of Champions in Tralee. The IGB were delighted when they agreed to increase their sponsorship and commitment to Irish Greyhound Racing by the announcement of Irish Greyhound Derby Sponsorship in 2014.
This year Trainer Graham Holland has the biggest team with fifteen entries while PJ Fahy is the leading owner with eight hopefuls in the first round.
The Limerick entrants include :
Jerry Griffin, Neilus O Connell and Paudie Ryan respectively have 2 entrants each competing for a share of the spoils
Heat 19 Trap 2 Morning Music & in Heat 24 Trap 1 Justice Matters for Jerry Griffin
Heat 14 Trap 1 Knocktoo Garry & in Heat 20 Trap 3 Native Custom for Neilus O’Connell
Heat 2 Trap 3 Hannibal Rising & in Heat 15 Trap 6 Jackal Frampton (w) Paudie Ryan
Also, the winner of the Limerick Trial Stake, Ballyana Foxtrot will be representing Limerick in Heat 16.
The draw will be streamed each night after racing on the Talking Dogs section of the IGB website.
The Final will be broadcast live on RTE television on Saturday, September 19th on RTE 2 from 8.00pm – 9.30pm as well as online on www.rte.ie.
