Greyhound Derby preview and free betting tips from Aofie Corrigan
Dogs expert Aofie Corrigan has two selections for Saturday night in the latest action in the Greyhound Derby.
Greyhound Derby selections
Saturday
- Heat 10 (6.35) – Trap 2 Part Blake
- Heat 16 (08.26) – Trap 1 Kildare
Onto Saturday’s action and my first selection runs in the 6.35 which is Heat 10 where I fancy Trap 2 Part Bake. This dog is bang in-form with back-to-back wins over C&D posting a solid 29.35, has improved on the clock week on week and has the fastest split so I think if he shows his rivals a clean pair of heels he can keep his unbeaten record going.
My final selection is in Heat 16 which is the final one at 8.26 and it's Trap 1 Kildare, who was beaten at a short price last week when battling hard to finish second. He is well drawn again on the inside and if using that to his advantage should make amends.
Published at 1025 BST on 26/05/22
Outright preview
The 2022 English Greyhound Derby starts on Thursday with a field of 192 entries featuring 106 railers, 55 middle seeds and 31 wide seeds, so an incredible line up will all be hoping to land the pot of £175,000.
Last year's winner Thorn Falcon will bid to regain his crown, and I have four antepost runners that I think can go well.
Kicking off is BALLINABOLA ED (Confident Rankin – Dolls Lady). This young June 20 dog started his career in the Juvenile Classic at Tralee for which he went out in the second round after finding trouble in running. On the night of the final this dog broke the track record, posting an incredible 28:03 +10 28:13 when blasting the lids and making all.
From there he went to the Kirby in Limerick for which he put in some fine performances, posting 28:23 and 28:15 to progress to the final, finishing fourth. This dog packs plenty of early pace and speed and I think he could be a lively outsider (25/1) if taking to the Towcester circuit.
My second fancy is fellow Irish challenger DA BOLD FREDDIE (Ballymac Bolger – Ballymac Belle), now trained by Peter Cronin. This dog has some fancy recorded trials on his card, most notably 28:53 as a 19 month old pup.
Like Ballinabola Ed, he also started at Tralee, winning the opening two nights when posting 28:29 and 28:31 respectively before hitting the rail in the semi-finals. He also switched his attention to Kirby where he also made the semi-finals. He knows how to keep qualifying in big competitions and I think this dog will keep qualifying week on week.
Onto the first of my UK selections, with KILKENNY SANTY (Kilkenny Desmond – Lemon Isabelle) getting the vote. This dog was running in top company over a staying distance at Shelbourne Park in early April before subsequently been sold.
Less than a month later, he was hugely impressive on UK debut when trapping smartly and showing buckets of pace down the back straight to win quite comfortably. I thought it was a real taking performance against a good field of runners, the trip wouldn’t be an issue and I think this dog could relish the task at hand. He appeals at 50/1.
My final selection is SPORTING CHILE (Ballymac Best – Sporting Rivieria) who, like Kilkenny Santy, also hails from Seamus Cahills' kennel. This dog has really hit the ground running in recent weeks with back-to-back wins over course and distance, breaking the track record on his latest run when flashing from the traps off a 4:09 split and winning by seven lengths.
He seems to be coming into form at the right time and if he keeps leading in his races, I think he will give himself a great chance of progressing to the latter stages of the competition.
Published at 1435 BST on 16/05/22
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