There were mixed fortunes in the second round of the 2026 BoyleSports Irish Greyhound Derby on Friday night for two of the main contenders for the title.
Ballymac Deniro as the only wide seed with five insides was in theory the best drawn dog of the round.
However, he appeared to lose his footing when exiting the trap and attempted to play catch-up from last position at the opening bend.
He tried desperately to bridge the gap but could only finish fourth and the clear ante-post second favourite was eliminated.
If all is well, I expect him to be popular in the Derby Plate line-up if entered.
Solid performance
The night ended in style with another solid performance off the front from Bouncing Monarch.
His finishing time of 29.11 was only one spot slower than his previous winning time.
He will be even shorter in the market after his latest victory.
Saturday night saw a repeat of the week before when Bockos Diamond proved he is not here just to make up the numbers.
His time was 21 spots quicker and the 2024 champion advances into the next round.
The fastest sectional this round was achieved by Harvard Square in 3.32 seconds before playing a secondary role to Sleight Of Hand at the finish.
The ante-post selections Ballymac Kamala and Kapuka Coley both managed to qualify in third place.
To escape from heat 11 if only by a short head was a feat in itself for the BoyleSports Champion Stakes winner.
Narrow margin
Similarly, Lennies Eddie came through by only a narrow margin and the ‘Derby Double’ dream was still a possibility – but unfortunately not anymore as he picked up on injury and has now been withdrawn.
The punters fared better in this round, especially on Saturday when five winning favourites obliged, including an evens and 6/4 shot.
The winning box numbers were shared out, although traps 1, 4 and 5 were more successful with a quartet of winners.
Third round
The qualifiers into the drum this time consisted of 32 inside seeds with nine middle and now seven wides.
All the wides had the luxury of trap six once again. Apart from heat 8 with two middles, every race has four insides, one middle and one wide.
The draw places Bockos Diamond in heat 2 as the only winner and his supporters’ must be content with his next assignment.
Bouncing Monarch has two other winners in heat 4 and now has the best breaker in Ballyea Warrior as well as Getup The Boy for company on his outside.
Ballyea Warrior is in that tough heat but his acceleration from the traps has been exceptional so far.
From the head of affairs is where you want to be in order to keep qualifying.
Another factor in his favour is his times to the third turn which have both dipped under the 17 second mark (data courtesy of Talking Dogs – thank you Ian).
He is unbeaten at Shelbourne Park and at 20/1 (as low 8s with Starsports) is worth adding this middle seed to the selection portfolio.
Opposing the very short-priced ante-post favourite Bouncing Monarch (now 7/2 at best) with Sleight Of Hand is an option.
He holds the joint fastest time but has found trouble when not donning the red jacket so is passed over on this occasion in the outright market.
Ratings
The top-rated in each race won 10 out of 16 in the last round. In fact, seven of those winners were available at odds-against at early prices with a couple backed into odds-on.
At the third-round stage, every qualifier has had at least two competitive races over the Derby track and distance to assess their performances by.
It is also the first occasion where a comparison between all 48 remaining greyhounds is calculated collectively.
Hopefully more winners to come on a fantastic night of racing in prospect for spectators this Saturday.
