Meduza still the one to beat in Golden Muzzle

MEDUZA remains the one to beat ahead of the semi finals of the Greyhound and Petworld Golden Muzzle A1 550 in Limerick Greyhound Stadium on Saturday night.

The John Byrne trained runner followed up the fastest time of round one with another top-class display to win easily, in 29.88. In the end, it was a five and a half-length success for the John Meelam and Sean Ryan owned runner over Out Little Game. Minaun Flyer claimed the final qualifying position just a neck further back in third.

Next best on the clock was Alice Guilfoyle’s Magical Jasper who recorded a brilliant seventeenth victory in the opening quarter final. Despite having some six lengths to make up down the back, Magical Jasper showed all of his class to breeze past four greyhounds within a matter of strides.

A three and a half-length victory over Priceless Harry. The time was a fast 29.93 with the final qualifying spot going to Bling Bling Paul in third.

The second of the quarter finals on the night ended in a dead-heat as Elms Fly and Blastoff Harry shared the spoils to record a fast 29.97.

Both greyhounds caught the eye in the opening round of this stake and Elms Fly, trained by Eamonn Flynn, and the Paul Hennessy trained Blastoff Harry were eight lengths clear of the chasing pack at the winning line. The final qualifier was Blackboy Lucky in third.

The final quarter final down for decision was the third and this was landed by Loxley who followed up her impressive run behind Meduza last week to get his head in front. Owned by Sean Stack, Loxley, a son of Laughil Blake - Rallying Way stayed on well to score by two lengths from Roadstone Barney at the winning line. The time was a good 30.08 with Rallying Knight taking third spot.

Off the track this week, BoyleSports renewed its sponsorship of the Irish Greyhound Derby with a three-year €1m commitment. The Irish Greyhound Derby is the most prestigious race on the Irish greyhound calendar. The renewed deal will take BoyleSports’ sponsorship of the event to 10 years, with the value of its sponsorship over this time set to exceed €3m.  

The early market with BoyleSports has the Liam Dowling trained Ballymac Ariel as the 16/1 favourite, with the 2020 Juvenile Derby and recent Select Stakes champion Skywalker Barry at 20/1 alongside Con & Annie Kirby Memorial finalist Explosive Boy, 2020 Juvenile Derby finalist Knight Tornado and Broadstrand Ryan. 

BoyleSports will also be sponsoring the Champion Stakes at Shelbourne Park from 2021-2023. Run over 550 yards, the event traditionally attracts big names with many viewing it as the perfect entrée to the biggest Irish Greyhound competition, the BoyleSports Irish Greyhound Derby. 

The 2021 BoyleSports Irish Greyhound Derby was launched at Ireland’s premier greyhound stadium, Shelbourne Park on Monday under the watchful eye of champion greyhound himself Newinn Taylor and Timmy Holland, son of 2020 Derby-winning trainer Graham. 

"RCÉ is delighted with the three-year extension to the excellent partnership between RCÉ and Boylepsorts. It is a hugely positive announcement for the industry guaranteeing a very substantial prize fund for this prestigious competition up to 2023.

"The Boylesports Irish Greyhound Derby is an eagerly anticipated competition with worldwide interest. We very much look forward to hearing the ‘Derby roar’ back at Shelbourne Park Greyhound Stadium in September,” said Ger Dollard CEO of Rásaíocht Con Éireann.

Conor Gray, Chief Executive Officer at BoyleSports said they were privileged to extend the longterm relationship with the Irish Greyhound Derby.

“Obviously, the pandemic has had a devastating impact on all sports, including greyhound racing. So we are especially delighted that we can throw our weight behind the sector, that it will know it has a supportive friend in BoyleSports for the foreseeable future,” he continued.

“This agreement extends our sponsorship to 10 years and sees the total prize fund over that time go through the €3M mark. There is no doubt we’re going to see another very competitive battle for the top prize this year and now we just can’t wait for the action to start in this year’s BoyleSports Irish Greyhound Derby,” said Conor Gray.