This year’s Greyhound Derby has begun in earnest and this past weekend’s first round saw very few shock results, with the majority of the principles making it through to the second stage. Laughill George clocked the fastest time of the weekend and can still be backed at odds of 33/1 with William Hill to land the big prize. The Michael O’Donovan trained Irish raider clocked a time of 28.45 and there were a total of six Irish greyhounds that won during the first round heats.
The always impressive Ballymac Eske heads the betting currently at odds of 7/1. Already having captured the Scottish Derby and the Racing Post Juvenile in recent months, Barry Draper’s dog is definitely one of the most exciting greyhounds in training currently. Eske has already shown proven form round the 480m trip at Wimbledon and should go far in the competition, if not all the way. He is being closely challenged for favouritism however by namesake Ballymac Vic, who is an 8/1 chance at William Hill. Liam Dowling’s runner looked very impressive in the opening round and on the back of that performance, looks a serious danger to the market leader.
While the two Ballymac dogs are proving popular with punters, Droopys Jet seems to be the greyhound everyone is talking about following the first round. Fraser Black’s dog has made a remarkable recovery from serious injury this year and may well be able to go one step further than last year when he was eliminated at the semi final stage. 16/1 is the price available on this runner at this time.
Stay tuned to UK Greyhound Racing in the coming days for all the latest news and tips on the 2013 William Hill Greyhound Derby.
The second round can be seen live this weekend on RPGTV, Sky Channel 212 or Freesat 401.
2013 Greyhound Derby Betting
(William Hill)
Ballymac Eske 7/1
Ballymac Vic 8/1
Kereight King 12/1
Droopys Jet 16/1
Shaneboy Alley 20/1
Tyrur Sugar Ray 20/1
Priceless Sky 20/1
25/1 Bar