Ian Fortune
With just one last hurdle to negotiate to make the final of the Star Sports/ TRC English Derby, there will be many nervous connections in the coming days.
Ireland had mixed luck on Saturday night in the quarter finals but, ultimately, have a great chance of claiming yet another English Derby title with six of the remaining twelve greyhound representing these shores.
The other good news is that the numbers have been split equally with three Irish and three UK runners in each of the two semi-finals, allowing for a potential equal spread in the decider. Below we’ve highlighted some of the stats from the quarter finals focusing on the Irish runners.
Number of Irish trained winners in the quarter finals:
2 from a possible 4 (Ireland had runners in each of the four heats)
Number of Irish trained qualifiers:
6 (from a possible 12)
Breakdown of Irish qualifiers:
Graham Holland (2 from 3)
Gaytime Nemo
The Other Kobe
(Swords Rex was a non-runner)
Liam Dowling (3 from 4)
Ballymac Gizmo
Ballymac Slick
De Lahdedah
Paul Hennessy (1 from 1)
Boylesports Bob
WHERE THE IRISH FINISHED
A full breakdown of where the 12 Irish trained greyhound finished in the quarter finals.
Saturday (12 runners)
Heat 1
3rd Gaytime Nemo
5th Superfast Gorden
6th Grouchos Duke
Heat 2
3rd Ballymac Gizmo
4th Ballymac Finn
5th Hawkfield Abbie
6th Ballinabola Ed
Heat 3
1st Ballymac Slick
2nd The Other Kobe
5th Hawkfield Blue
Heat 4
1st Boylesports Bob
3rd De Lahdedah