Kildare-based owner has fancied dog in €300k Derby final

Kildare-based Eamon Cleary is the owner of Ballyanne Sim running in this weekend’s €300,000 BoyleSports Irish Greyhound Derby final at Shelbourne Park.

Ballyanne Sim is joint 5/2 favourite to capture the €140,000 winning prize.

Tipperary trainer Pat Guilfoyle is aiming for his second Derby in a row, following last year’s success with Good News – while Slippy Cian is on of three Graham Holland trained dogs in the final.

Jaytee Taylor and Cork-owned Clona Blaze come next in the betting, with Clonbrien Hero and Ballyanne Sim following at 6/1 and 20/1 with BoyleSports.

The final of Irish greyhound racing’s biggest event – now in its 87th year – will be broadcast live on RTE 2 and online to a worldwide audience on the RTE website, from 8pm to 9:30pm, as well as the RTE player.

BoyleSports, Ireland’s largest independent bookmaker, signed a three year sponsorship deal with the Irish Greyhound Board in 2017.

It will deliver €1 million in prize money to greyhound owners, breeders and trainers.

Gates open at Shelbourne Park from 4pm on Saturday, with live music beginning at 4:30pm.

Adult admission is €20 (including race programme), with students and OAP’s at the discounted rate of €10 (also including race programme).

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).

The Irish Retired Greyhound Trust will also receive 2% of winning prize money from the BoyleSports Irish Greyhound Derby 2018.

The link to share to the broadcast is http://bit.ly/RTE2Live. This is a mobile re-direct link that will either load the desktop service in a browser, or if a user is on a mobile device it will load up the app or link to the app store.