Jaytee Taylor and Lenson Blinder lead the charge for the 2018 Greyhound Derby

Just 24 greyhounds remain in the race for the €300,000 BoyleSports Irish Greyhound Derby as we enter quarter final weekend.

The action continues this Saturday at Dublin’s Shelbourne Park with four competitive heats down for decision – and plenty of Munster, Connacht and Leinster interest too.

Jaytee Taylor continues to head the betting as the Derby favourite at 6/1 with BoyleSports and is 11/10 favourite to win Saturday’s first quarter final. Lenson Blinder follows at 7/1, with Templemore-owned Totos Park, along with Slippy Cian, next in line at 8/1. British-owned pair Crossfield Will and Magical Bale follow in at 10/1 in the outright betting.

Other ones to watch include Whoops Jack, owned by well known Dublin publican Larry O Shea at 14/1 and Waterford/Kilkenny-based Doggy McDogface, who has gained quite the cult following in recent weeks, at 16/1.

Four bitches - Ballymac Arminta, Coolavanny Pet, Droopys Floral and Jumeirah Charm – are still in line for this year’s ‘last bitch standing’ €3,000 prize. €2,000 remains on offer for the last ‘owner trained greyhound’ and ‘last syndicate owned’ greyhound respectively.

With a total prize fund of €300,000, the Irish Greyhound Derby is in its 87th year. In 2017 BoyleSports, Ireland’s largest independent bookmaker signed a three sponsorship deal with the Irish Greyhound Board which will deliver €1 million in prize money to greyhound owners, breeders and trainers.

The Final of this highly anticipated event will take place on Saturday 22 September 2018. Both the Semi-Final and Final will be broadcast live on RTÉ 2 and online to a worldwide audience on RTÉ website and RTÉ Player.  For information on the BoyleSports Irish Greyhound Derby visit www.gogreyhoundracing.ie.

Additional Information

This is the fifth year of BoyleSports sponsorship of the classic event, which has been running since 1928, receiving classic status in 1932.  The competition, which is run over a distance of 550yds, takes place in Shelbourne Park, Dublin, and was won in 2017 by Good News.

The total prize fund for the BoyleSports Irish Greyhound Derby 2018 is €300,000. Of the €300,000 the winner will receive €140,000 and a commemorative trophy. Under the Irish Greyhound Board’s innovative prize money scheme, the breeder of the winner will receive €14,000 (10% of the winner’s prize) and if the winner is trained by a licensed public trainer he or she will also receive €14,000 (10% of the winner’s prize).