Irish Derby night one plus Romford and Sunderland

Photo from Shelbourne Park X feed

Dowling and Holland with opening night Irish Derby trebles

The opening night of the 2026 BOYLE Sports Irish Greyhound Derby saw Liam Dowling and Graham Holland share the spoils with a trio of winners each from the 12 heats.

Fastest on the night was Dowling's Solo And Go who stopped the clock in 29.27. He is a competition dog with a serious resume, winning the Kingdom Derby and finishing runner-up in the Irish Laurels, Tote Gold Cup, Cork Supersprint and Race of Champions since exiting this competition at the third round stage last year. 

The final race of the evening went to Ballymac Gwennie who was second fastest of the Dowling trio, just four spots behind Solo And Go. She has now won all three of her starts since making the final of the Irish Oaks, with her 3.40 split the fourth quickest of the 72 runners on the night,  

Ballymac Kamala also picked up her heat for Dowling, though not in as quick a time as we have been accustomed to seeing her produce around Shelbourne. She had to work a little harder than most who saw her sent off as the 1/5 market leader would have expected, but the job got done and that is all that connections will have been concerned about. 

Heat 10 looked the toughest of the heats and it featured 2024 Derby champion Bockos Diamond. Holland's superstar shrugged off the attentions of some very smart types to run out a two-length winner in 29.40. Hopefully, he can go on from here and give everyone another deep run into the competition to enjoy.

Holland's treble had kicked off with a win for Low Profile. He showed the best early pace to dominate his field on the inside and that was plenty to see him pull out a lead large enough to run out a comfortable winner. Towcester also saw a spectacular opening round win for him, before exiting in the second round, connections will be hoping for better luck here. 

Bombay Special caused a bit of a shock in her heat as she turned over her kennelmate Ballydoyle Tina who had been sent off the 4/9 market leader. The winner had arguably saved the pick of her form for Cork prior to this success where she was the Cork Oaks winner back in March, but she showed she is more than capable elsewhere. 

Another to spring a surprise was Oriental King for Denise Ryan. In a heat that contained a star like Ballycowen Frank, he was sent off a 7/1 shot but the winner showed plenty of strength and tenacity to get his head in front. Frank will still be one of the leaders in the outright market despite the reverse after his flying wins in the Dundalk International and Race of Champions. 

The quickest split on the night was Pat Buckey's Ballyea Warrior who used that early pace to perfection to land his heat. He was challenged late on by his kennelmate Glengar Kane who had had to check off the winner's rear at the opening bend which probably cost him the winning opportunity, but he went through with plenty of ease. 

The first heat of the Derby went to Ballyhooly Cliff for Tom O'Neill. His seven-length winning margin was comfortably the widest of the night, just starting to get on top from his striped berth at the third bend when there was trouble inside of him. 

Firstpastthepost lived up to his name for Paul Matthews to take his heat. A quarter-finalist in the Bar 1 Betting Irish Sprint Cup ahead of this event, he had shown his class over four bends when making the Produce Stakes final at Clonmel back in May. A litter brother to English Derby winner Lennies Eddie, he clearly has a huge amount of talent himself. 

There was a heat winner for Neilus O'Connell in the form of Kilcolgan Norman who got to the front early on the outside of his rivals and just kept digging in. His 3.48 sectional was decent but it was the pace that he showed from the line to the first bend that was the impressive part of his victory. 

Although Silent Noelle was the slowest heat winner of the day, representing the Nolan-Mullins-Ahern Syndicate, a 29.78 success is still an excellent mark for an opening round run. She landed another blow for the girls with a brave display, getting herself to the lead coming out of the final corner. 

Locke and Lee double up at Romford

The quickest time of the Romford card was expected to be set by a Headford dog of Maxine Locke's but most would not have expected it to be Headford Fiona in the same race as Headford Sarah. The winner was quickest into stride and she didn't see another rival.

Inclement Moon started the double for Locke, making a successful debut for the kennel after joining from Glenn Foot. He has now won four of his six starts, showing plenty of early boot to get himself to the front on the run to the first bend. There should be better still to come from him.

Dave Lee also picked up a pair of winners with Drombeg Doro rounding out the evening with a slick success over 575m. He paced up well to the opening bend and with the favourite not coming away, he was able to gain himself enough of an advantage to hold that one off.

Jacquesinthebox has really sprung into action (sorry, not sorry) in recent starts, winning three of his last four. An A4 and A2 preceded this first success at open race level despite still looking a little bit green around the bends. That suggests that there is still plenty of improvement in the tank, and his middle pace marks him down as a really nice prospect. 

The staying final went to Distant Hiker for Dean Childs, smashing out of the outside box to go clear early on. A 13.40 sectional was very impressive, setting him on the way to a wide-margin success. He has really hit his stride of late, winning three of his last four and he shapes like there is capable of going in again. 

David Mullins got on the scoresheet with Piemans Goalie who got up late in the day in what looked a very competitive 400m contest. The veteran has enjoyed another hugely successful year, just five starts away from 100 for Mullins (did have three runs in Ireland) with this the 35th time that he has won for Mullins.

Aero Espresso picked up a four-runner affair over 575m where three of the four runners spent time in front, albeit briefly in the case of Razldazl Royco. The winner won races back-to-back in May, getting his head in front for the first time since. 

The other open on the card went to King Jarvis for John Mullins. He showed the best pace to pick up the lead into the opening bend and with a little bit of trouble behind him, he railed his way into an unassailable position as they entered the back. 

Sunderland double for Fenwick

There was a double on the Sunderland card for Jimmy Fenwick, led by the sprinting win of Elegant Shadow. Still a puppy, her prior wins had come over the 450m distance at this track as well as over 480m at Newcastle. the drop to two bends was no issues for her, making all of the running to show just how flexible she is over different distances. 

Coppice Saphire was last seen chasing home Slingshot Poppy in the final of the Arc Angel of the North, making the decider for the second straight year. This was open race win number 14 in her career, adding to successes in both the heats and semis of the Newcastle competition. She had to ride an early bump but her middle pace secured her the win. 

A couple of non runners inside of him made the task facing Romeo Dutch all the easier for Tom Heilbron, comfortably justifying plenty of late support into a starting price of 8/11. He has been in flying form at this track in recent weeks, his victory here making it three on the bounce at Sunderland. 

The other open on the card went to Mark Bulmer's Newmoors Amore. She didn't really get into top gear until past halfway but with the inside of the track to herself, she slipped around the inside off the final turn to power clear up the run-in. She already has a win over 640m at this track and she shapes as if further is where her future lies.