Holland lands the Irish Derby on Saturday as Droopys Flare lands her St Leger semi

Picture from Shelbourne Park X feed

Holland strikes Gold with a third straight Derby win

Bockos Gold gave Graham Holland a remarkable sixth BOYLE Sports Irish Greyhound Derby last night at Shelbourne, taking him two ahead of anyone else in the history of the race. To make it an even more spectacular training feat, it was Holland's third straight Derby win!

Those six successes have come in a span of just 11 years, starting with Rural Hawaii in 2016. Lenson Bocko and Newinn Taylor went back-to-back in 2019 and 2020 before Bockos Diamond and Cheap Sandwiches landed the Derby in 2024 and 2025 respectively. 

A 29.05 from Bockos Gold in the final was the quickest time through the competition, the Holland team once more producing their runner to peak at the perfect moment. 

It was a bit of a bun fight on the run to the opening bend. Bouncing Monarch who came in defending an unbeaten record in the competition just about snuck around in front but he had Sleight Of Hand snapping at his heels on his inside. 

The favourite tried to close the door on the red-jacketed runner at the second bend but it cost him momentum rather than his rival as the winner made his move around the outside. Bockos Gold got himself to the front at the end of the back, driving the third bend and forcing runner-up Sleight Of Hand to check. At 85 pounds, the winner is a large unit and in full flight, covers serious ground.

A run of never being out of the first two when clad in red was continued by Sleight Of Hand, chasing valiantly for Laurence Jones with Bouncing Monarch back in third for Michael O'Donovan. 

Wi Can James has given connections a great run through the competition, the Patrick Guilfoyle-trained runner running off heels at the opening bend before doing some serious running down the back to get himself back in touch with the front four, missing out on third by a short head. 

Im Here ran another consistent race back in fifth for Peter Cronin, four of his six clockings in the competition were between 29.47 and 29.55, he's become a dog that you can set your watch by. 

O'Donovan's other runner Hackney Dancer whipped them in. He was not as quick to stride as he can be, finding Bockos Gold coming straight left across him in the opening strides to cost him any chance.

On the undercard it was Liam Dowling's Ballymac Setanta who landed the Derby Plate from Ballymac Deniro. Setanta picked up an unwanted double of being knocked out of both the English and Irish Derbies in the opening round but showed again here that he is more than classy enough to take a deep run in one, clocking 29.15.

Getup The Boy was a casualty in the quarters of the Derby, a winner on the undercard in a flying 29.09 for Mark Robinson. Miami Hans stopped the clock in 28.01 over 525y for Garry Dempsey in the best run of the night over that distance. There was also a fastest 575y time of the year from Riverside Rex to give the Holland team another winner 

Flare shines brightest in St Leger at Dunstall Park

It was another display of absolute dominance in the staying division as Sean Parker's Droopys Flare made it 10 wins straight to set the standard in the semi-finals of the Premier Greyhound Racing St Leger. She just got shuffled back around the second bend but she drove up the inside strongly at the third bend to put herself in a position to run down the early leader.

That early leader was Kevin Hutton's Venetian Mick who showed by far the best early pace to go clear but the writing was on the wall halfway down the back the second time, though he was able to qualify for the final in third. It was Angie Kibble's Malcolm Bosh who split the pair, keeping on powerfully as is his way to make the decider. 

Droopys Flare's full-brother from the next litter Zenith Pasha took the other semi-final for Jimmy Fenwick. He has made an exceptional start to life over six bends, beaten just a length in the Ladbrokes Summer Stayers Classic final. Unbeaten in his two starts in this competition, he has a slightly unfamiliar draw in one in the final which is going to make for a very interesting start, directly to the left of Droopys Flare. 

The newly crowned Select Stayers champion Radical Story chased him home to add another Category One finalist for the Craig Morris kennel who are enjoying a stunning run at present. Next week's field will be rounded out by another Hutton runner in Lets Go Girl who has made an excellent start to life with her new kennel. 

There was a bit of a surprise when it came to the quickest winner in the three Arc Birmingham Cup semi-final winners as Betgoodwin Eddy bolted up by five lengths. He'd shown up well in the heats last week but this was a significant step forward on that form with a slick 3.01 split putting him in control of proceedings from the opening bend. He was chased home by Droopys Alldeway for Paul Young.  

Kevin Hutton has finalists in both competitions next Saturday night as his Signet Nayla made the best of her way home from early in the contest to hold off Jimmy Fenwick's Woltemade by a short head. The runner-up got his head in front briefly heading into the third bend in what was a great battle. 

There was another shock in the other semi as Tomahawk picked up a win for Michelle Brown to give her Category One finalists back-to-back nights after Carrigoon Cece made the Coral Puppy Cup final with a win the night before. He also got home by a short head with Maxine Locke's Headford Cian running on late in the day to challenge. 

Monmore pair for Taberner

A double for Richie Taberner at Monmore put the kennel on 49 open race winners for the year. Holding Blaze is not the most regular winner but when he does time his break right and get his head in front, he generally clocks an eye-catching time. This was a 28.18 performance, flying from the stripes to have things well under control within a few strides. 

Adelinesfirstdog had kicked off the double with a third straight win and a sixth from his last nine starts. He is turning into a smart performer, with his consistency from the boxes helping his winning run. He turned handy to the speed to beat Oaks finalist Kilwest Diva for the second Saturday night in a row. 

Over six bends there was a win for Carrick Scholsey who came back to a track where he has had plenty of success at after running into the same winner three times in a row at Nottingham. Mike Burton's runner got straight on the bunny from the inside draw, drawing himself clear to score by more than six lengths.

The other 630m contest on the card went to Patrick Curtin's Timmys Hunter. It was a third straight win for him, two over this trip and one over the 480m distance. He used the same tactics as Carricky Scholsey, away and gone before any of his rivals could get a look in, comfortably coming clear of his field. 

Over the sprint trip there was a win for Newinn Bachelor. He has won five of his last seven starts over this track and trip for Kim Billingham-Hine, showing smart speed to pick up his front-running kennelmate Beatties Shine who has produced the best early gears to take the early lead. 

The other sprint on the card went to Tullymurry India for Brian Thompson. She has plenty of success here, both in top grade contests and open races, getting far enough ahead of her rivals in the early stages to see off the running on Dhustone Spud.

Scooby lands another contest at Central Park

Central Park continues to be a happy hunting ground for Scooby The Lady, adding a second win back from a break. She now is a perfect 6/6 at this venue, which of course features her win in the Category One Arc Kent Plate final for Richard Rees, and will make her a very tough nut to crack in the upcoming Premier Greyhound Racing Kent Derby.

There was a double for Richard Rees as Dereks Legend took out one of the six-bend contests on the night. He is a solid performer over both four and six bends and should continue to give connections plenty of fun, just getting himself into a winning position at the right time before holding off the cavalry who were closing late. 

The move from Oxford upon closure to Central Park has been a huge plus for Foxwood Christy, clearly in love with the Kent venue. He has now won his last four starts over 491m with a six-bend defeat two starts back. He was just 1/17 to start his time with the kennel but with the key found, he is producing his best efforts. 

Bluebells Looker gave Maxine Locke a winner on her race debut at the track. She was running on to good effect on her debut at Romford over 400m, so it should not have been a surprise that the longer trip on a stiffer track was a plus to her. She slipped around the inside at the opening bend to grab a lead that she never looked like relinquishing. 

Julie Luckhurst got on the board with a 664m winner courtesy of Earls Ruby. The veteran had got her head back in front last time out in an A2, her first win since early July when she won a D2. There are not too many dogs at any level capable of winning over two, four and six bends in an 11-race span, using that speed to quickly take up a prominent position.

In a sprint there was a winner for Kerry Schimmefennig as Crossbar added another contest to her haul from the front to make it a hat-trick of victories. She was the first to show, pinging the lids in style to run herself into a comfortable lead, to hold off the running on Jacktavern Don.

There was a sprint winner for George Andreas with Insane Shenen. As a general rule, she is not the sharpest into stride for a sprinter but her exit was better last night which allowed her to pace into the lead heading into the turn to justify her position at the head of the market. She was a third winner in Andreas's last seven open runners having started the year 3/45 with them.

The final open race of the evening went to Nick Carter's Windsor Times. The winner showed a nice turn of foot to get himself into the lead at the opening bend having been out trapped by a number of his rivals, getting the best of a prolonged battle with runner-up Ima Rocket Fran.

Milner doubles up at Doncaster

Keefill Mo kicked off a Phil Milner double with an impressive score over 483m, clocking the third fastest time of the year in the process. He had been an impressive winner of his heat of the Produce Stakes a couple of weeks back before missing out in the second round. This showed again that there is a decent engine under the bonnet, with a couple of weeks of puppy status remaining.

The Milner double was completed by Keefill Indy who got herself off the mark in style at the fifth time of asking. Her 16.82 is a strong time for a seasoned performer at the venue but she is a March 25 puppy. A half-sister to the likes of Keefill Goose and Keefill Maverick, she will have gone in plenty of notebooks here. 

Rockmount Bob denied Milner a hat-trick, Rose Draper's charge just holding off Milner's Abigails Cian by half a length in a 450m contest. It was a fourth win in his last eight starts at the track, stopping the clock just a length slower than he had seven nights back when producing the second quickest time of the year. 

Barry Denby is enjoying plenty of success at Doncaster this year, with Aghaburren Lucas getting off the mark in an open in the first race on the card. He had an A3 Nottingham win to his credit prior to this, improving his trapping here steadily to turn right on the speed rather than back in the field. 

There has been plenty of interest on social media of late with pun names based on footballers, with Kay Lampard grabbing an open race win with Demba Bark. She made every yard of the running, doing enough early to hold on having just been picked up a week ago.

There was drama at the opening bend of a sprint contest won by Sally Clark's Tickets King. The wide runner managed to put himself in the right position to slip up the inside of the trouble caused as the favourite slowed down and moved off towards a rival at the turn.

Paul Meek got on the scoresheet with Miss Tibbs. She was afforded plenty of room early on as she popped out in front, aided by the runner inside her heading left and a slow starter to her right. There was a slight bump to be ridden at the opening bend but she kicked clear down the back. 

Coonough Scobie took the other open on the night, representing the Nicola Langley team. His two most recent wins had both come in sprints, showing plenty of speed in the early part of the contest to grab the lead around the opening two bends before having to hold off the closers. 

Two each for Soppitt and Holloway at Star Pelaw

Ted Soppitt picked up a pair of winners on the Star Pelaw card with Tassie Trump kicking things off with a sprint win in the first open of the night. It was just a three runner affair where the winner avoided the trouble in front of him at the opening bend. 

Keplar Venom made it two for Soppitt, this time over six bends. The youngster made the semis of the recent Puppy Classic at Nottingham but looks well suited to this easy six bends, quickly out in front and pouring on the pressure to score by six lengths.  

There was also a double on the night for Ricky Holloway who continues to raid the track on a Saturday night with plenty of success. Rapido Benny was the latter of the two winners who were both sent off the 1/5 market leader. He popped out in front and from there it was simply a matter of name your distance, with 13 and a half lengths ending up the answer. 

Mickeys Tribute is still yet to taste defeat over the sticks at the track, beating a pair of rivals to make it a perfect 14/14. It's hard to know what he is achieving with these but hopefully there will be some challenges coming with the Grand National coming up.

There was a win over six bends for Glenn Foot's Witton Gucci. She needed to dig deep to deny Holloway a treble as Razldazl Paloma was only a head behind her at the line. It was a fifth straight win for the victor who continues in great form. 

Having had his winning end come to a halt at eight last time out but Sunnyside Gurkha was straight back to the front for Cheryl Ingham who was in control very early on in proceedings to run out a three and three-quarter length winner. 

There was a seven-length victory for John Watson's Illnotbedown. She was very quick to stride, more than a length clear at the sectional the first time round, avoiding the trouble behind her to run out a very comfortable winner.