The Story Behind Our Irish Derby Semi-Finalists

The Story Behind Our Irish Derby Semi-Finalists

Sarah Kinsella

The 2024 BoyleSports Irish Greyhound Derby is being widely described as the best derby there has been. A new Shelbourne Park Greyhound Stadium and an elite level of canine athletes, along with €125,000 to the winner, makes this one of our histories best sporting events! It attracts thousands of racegoers and many more will be tuning in live. The greyhounds are the stars and there is a story attached to each semi-finalist From A Lucky Julie being a fan of TV to Singalong Dolly almost missing the derby and only getting in as a reserve!

I have broken down the human story behind all 12 runners. Without our owners and trainers, our sport wouldn’t be in the place it is today.

Profile on each semi-finalist

Boylesports Bob

Trained by Paul Hennessy & owned by John Boyle (sponsor & chasing his first derby win) and Ned Murphy (in his 80s & in dogs his whole life).

Paul got a phone call from John Kennedy who recommended him to pop down to his local track Kilkenny and watch Bob running in the Champion Open Unraced 525. He didn’t qualify but he showed huge potential, and Paul liked the look of him. He met Robbie O’Neill at the track and then spoke to Ned Murphy who wanted to sell a share in Bob. He advised Paul to buy the share for anyone who wanted a Saturday night star for Shelbourne and knew this was the dog. John Boyle then bought the share. They are both gentlemen and easy to train for says Paul.

They knew Bob was talented and they wanted him to compete at the top level so made a plan to only target certain competitions and keep his fresh. He reached the Easter Cup final and then went on to finish 2nd in the English Greyhound Derby, a race Paul had won twice before! Now Bob has reached the semi-finals of the BoyleSports Irish Greyhound Derby and is trying to give sponsor John his first win, having gone agonisingly close with BoyleSports King. Paul said win lose or draw, they will repeat the same process next spring with Bob and only target key events and compete at top level. Dogs like him are hard to find says Hennessy won the Irish Derby with Tyrur Rhino in 2007.

Da Bold Falcon

Trained by John F McGee & owned by Patrick McDonagh

Young assistant trained Jamie informed me that his Mam Keeley deserves a lot of credit for the success of Da Bold Falcon. He had a few disappointing runs and Keeley then found some serious injuries. She nursed him and got him back to his best and that resulted in him breaking the track record at Shelbourne Park for the 600 yards in 31.72. He is now in the semi-finals of the biggest competition of the year. John aka Ginger has been unlucky in the derby over the years. His dog Oran Classic was beaten on the line in 2009 by the Pat Buckley trained College Causeway. They then had Maries Wedding make the final in 2022 which was won by the Jennifer O’Donnell trained Born Warrior. He also had a dog called Yes Speedy who was beaten a short head. Ginger has won nearly everything there is to win in this sport, but the derby eludes him. He has hit the post a few times so they hopeful of some luck this year. This is also his grandsons Jamie first ever time to parade a semi-finalist so its an exciting time for this family.

A Lucky Julie

Trained by Jerry Melia & owned by him too. Jerry is training his whole life and now in his 80s. As he said himself, you’re only as old as you feel and he feels 60! Jerry and Julie have a great bond. He got her a pup at around 3-4 months old. She was bred by Sean Harrison in Antrim who had dogs in training with Jerry. He also has her brother. Jerry took his licence out in the 60’s and has been training winners ever since.

Jerry hit the post with Holycross Leah back in 2016 and also in 1984 when the derby was ran over the 525 yards for the last time. Had it been ran over 550 he would have won says Jerry with Glencorby Lad. Leah was beaten by the Graham Holland trained Rural Hawaii and now he wants to win it with Julie. Every week when Julie is getting a drink in the wash area after her race, she looks up at the TV and watches the recording of herself! She wants to learn from her mistakes says Jerry. Julie won the Irish Oaks this year in a dead heat along with Fleadh Saraide. She took a break from the track after coming in season and Jerry always leaves them off for 12/14 weeks. She hadn’t raced for four months until the first round of this competition. That really is remarkable. She is known for her incredible pace and staying power and is one special lady. She is looking to emulate Susie Sapphire by being the second bitch in history to win the Oaks/Derby double! Jerry is one of the sports greatest characters. He has been training winners for years from Newbridge to Harolds Cross and lives in what he describes as ‘a little piece of heaven’ in a place called Robertstown, County Kildare. Robertstown was named around the time of St Patrick! It was customary to take your boots off when you went into the pub. Only problem about that was when you came back out the boots were gone! That’s why it was called Robertstown says Jerry!

I asked Jerry when he realised, he had a special lady in his kennel. One day he was away and got a phone call that his dogs got out. On his way back home he seen Julie flying out from a neighbour’s garden with something in her mouth. Jerry was worried that she might have caused damage so called into the neighbour. “Is everything OK asked Jerry?” You better put that one on the track soon says his neighbour. Why is that asked Jerry? Well if she can run half as fast on the track as she can when she robbed my underwear off the washing line then she will be a great greyhound!!! Never a dull moment. That is the moment Jerry knew she could run!

He has never won the derby but all of greyhound racing are behind him. He always has a smile on his face and always has a story or joke to share! His most common one would be after a race if your dog finished second, Jerry would always say “ah sure you’re obviously not walking him far enough then”!! A wonderful man. Jerry is going to keep Julie for breeding and takes each race as it comes. She doesn’t get a lot of galloping as she nearly trains herself running round the field and keeps herself fit and well.

Seven Beach

Trained by Jennifer O’Donnell & owned by the Beach Boys Trio syndicate. Jennifer is going for three derby titles in a row having won the last two with litter brothers Born Warrior and The Other Kobe. He is called Wiky at home. Syndicate members are Rob, Ian, Kevin and Robin.

The beach boys trio bought Wilky as a pup at 12 weeks old from Jennifer. Rob the head of the syndicate contacted her, and she told him if there was a pup available, she would be in touch. Couple of months later she gave him a call while he was out walking his dog to let him know there was a dog pup available which was Wilky. Rob had half forgotten about being in touch until Jennifer called. When it came to picking a name, they were planning on calling him Severn beach after where his brother Ian (another syndicate member) is from but when he messaged her the name, he spelt it incorrectly ‘Seven Beach’ !! Wilky is a grandson of Mountaylor Queen who is the dam of Born Warrior and The Other Kobe so Jennifer is delighted to have another home bred doing so well in the derby as they only have six race dogs at the moment but plenty of pups! Jennifer and her family have enjoyed huge success over the years with her dad Matt and her aunt Dolores. A wonderful family. 

March On Freddie

Trained by David Mullins & owned by George Watson from London. This is the only UK raider left in the derby and if he qualifies, will be the first UK finalist since ??? Freddie and Bockos Diamond are litter brothers!! A massively successful litter.

George owned Seaglass Shadow the dam to Freddie and Bockos. She was a Romford specialist winning over 50% of races in open class. Her first two litters produced a couple of minor open class dogs but mainly graders. Shadows third and final litter to Dorotas Wildcat produced 5 pups. (4 dogs and a bitch).

Bockos is probably the best 550 dog we’ve ever seen says George. Freddie won the puppy classic at Nottingham and did the track record. Bully is in the Sunderland classic final Friday night having already won the Cat2 comp at Romford. Aero has won multiple open races in UK. Sassy the bitch won well for Rachel before coming into season. The only bitch in the litter Sassy has now had 6 healthy dogs to King Sheeran. (All black dogs) and I would imagine they are all spoken for given the success of the litter!!

Graham Holland and his trio of derby hopefuls

Bockos Diamond aka ‘Wildcat’ – coming into the derby was the shortest priced outright favourite since 2016! Owned by Remember Them syndicate and unbeaten so far in this competition. The syndicate consists of Bev and Graham Lochead, Austin Wheelan and Thomas McNamara. It called the Remember Them syndicate due to all members of the group suffering from family bereavements in recent times.

Graham calls Holland every Sunday and Timmy, (Holland’s son) told Graham to look at the results from Kilkenny. Rachel Wheeler trained the dog and they made her an offer (Called Moanteen Wildcat back then). Once they came to an agreement the dog stayed with Wheeler for the duration of the Kilkenny competition.

When Graham Holland got the dog, he told Graham Lochead that he thought Bockos was really special. They won the derby with Lenson Bocko, they were 2nd with Bockos Crystal and are now back again with Diamond! They own a pub in Croydon called Pawson’s Arms and they also own a building company. Austin owns a chain of pubs.

He broke the 550 yards track record in the third round clocking a sensational 28.94, the previous record was held by Pestana of 28.99. He is being classified as one of the best greyhounds we have ever seen.

Started his career in October 2023. First trial 19.33 over 350 yards at Limerick. First race was in May 2024 in the Champion Unraced 525 at Kilkenny. He won in 28.71 and went on to win the final in 28.65. It was onto Curraheen Park in July for the David Fitzgibbon Memorial Open 525 and he won that final too in a blistering 27.83 by 13½ lengths. It was clear he was special. He was put away them until 14th September and he won the TIME Greyhound Nutrition AA0 550 Final at Shelbourne Park. He soon became the outright favourite for the Irish Derby and now remains unbeaten in the comp with a track record of 28.94! He is a joy to watch when in full stride. He has only been beaten once in his 15 races when second to Broadstrand Syd in Kilkenny during the unraced comp. An outright favourite at 5/4 for a very good reason! His sectional to the third turn is 16.63! Frightfully fast!

 

Bombay Pat

Aka ‘Mars’ because his previous racing name was Rebel Mars – owned by Pat Muldoon & Bayliss Gee. He is also unbeaten in this competition. Bayliss is very good friends with the breeders Michael and Tom Murphy, who was a slipper in coursing. He was schooled by Liam Hayes and Paddy Hennessy and was doing some nice times. He failed to come out of traps in his first race but they persevered with him!

He first race in Kilkenny May 2024 ended in disaster as he never came out of the boxes. He came back in July and finished 4th in a 330 yards race at Curraheen Park and then won over 525 yards in 27.96!!! He went on to finish second in The Galloping Kennels A3 525 Stake Final. He then had two trials at Shelbourne Park and was 2nd to Coosane Pickles on his Dublin Debut in Maiden Derby. But then he took to the track, relished the 550 yards trip and hasn’t stop winning since. Before the Derby he won twice clocking 29.21 and 29.35 becoming the Shelbourne Maiden Derby AA0 550 champion winning €7,500. The derby was the obvious target then with this son of Pestana – Clear Mountain showing exquisite acceleration wearing the stripes. After Bockos, he has the fastest sectional to the third bend with 16.85, impressive!! He is lightly raced. He hasn’t trapped as good as Bockos but Bayliss is confident that we haven’t seen the best of Pat yet!!! In his words has said that the journey with Bombay Pat has been a ‘love story’. He has two more from the litter called Bombay Jupiter and Bombay Mercury and this is his first time to EVER have a dog running in the Irish Derby!!

Cheap Sandwiches

Aka ‘Sambo’ – owned by Bark Wahlberg syndicate. Named after a famous movie star. Bred by Joe Connor from Ballyduff. The same man who bred their first sapling they bought. The syndicate consists of eight lads that all went to college with one another, and it was formed the night Dan Brassil’s son got married! There are three or four doctors in the syndicate and a heart electrician, so they are all highly qualified says Dan. It’s all for fun and a night out he said. They travel up from Kerry and are loving every minute and love the newly refurbished Shelbourne Park.

Kerryman Dan reared and trained Cheap Sandwiches and the plan was always to send him to Graham after the Lee Strand in Tralee as he knew he had something special. Dan told me that this is a journey he never dreamt of happening. It’s been amazing and the dog has progressed week after week and the greyhound enthusiasts love him and his name attracts attention. He was named Cheap Sandwiches after a night in Vegas so the story will remain untold says Dan!! Dan only has two track dogs himself and won the coursing derby in 2015 with Feel My Pulse and is a friend of John Boyle, having trained coursing dogs for him for years. Sambo has been consistent for his connections and has improved over the course of this competition. He started his career in Tralee over 325 yards and then made the Lee Strand Final finishing 2nd to Dashing Toro in 29.54 back in May. He went to Curraheen Park and had no luck. He came to Shelbourne Park in August and he eventually won on his third attempt at the Dublin track in 28.18 and made the semi-final of the Juvenile Derby. He then finished 2nd to Bockos Diamond TIME Greyhound Nutrition AA0 550 Final. The derby was the next target and he was 2nd in the opening round, won the next two rounds and finished 2nd to A Lucky Julie last week! He has excelled during this comp.

Callaway Knegare

Trained by Owen McKenna & owned by The Fields Sports syndicate. It consists of the Murphy family from Kerry including Denis, with Conor Foley also a member. A successful litter with Droopys Plunge and Droopys Bookem!

Michael Dunphy ran Owen one day and said there was a nice dog there and he bought him for the Murphy family without even seeing him. The Dunphys have an outstanding reputation. The Murphy family went close with Callaway Pro Am in the derby final in 2022. He won every round of the competition except the final itself as the 7/4 favourite. He is now enjoying life at stud. They took a chance on Knegare and he has exceeded their expectations says McKenna. Owen took his licence out at the age of 29 and trained in the UK first for a couple of years. He learned from the best as his dad Ger was a terrific trainer.

Winner of the Juvenile Derby at Shelbourne Park in Aug clocking 27.96, one of the fastest times ever recorded for the 525 yards. A greyhound that everyone was talking about has he made his debut at Curraheen Park as he clocked 28.17 in The Denis Linehan Solicitors Open Unraced. He hasn’t had things easy in this derby but has shown his class by qualifying each week without winning which is the aim with anyone in this competition! Just qualify and then win the final!! He has been coming from last place in most of his rounds so a big run is due. It would be some training feat if he was to make it to the final and give McKenna his third derby title. He won his first won with Like A Shot in 2004, 20 years ago and Susie Sapphire in 2021 but his dad Ger McKenna was the maestro of the derby winning it three times, and two English Derby titles! Knegare is still young having just turned two-years-old says McKenna, so he is a dog for next year. He is delighted with his draw in trap one as it’s the best place to be with all the wide seeds. Can Owen emmulate his dad? 

Ballinabola Jim

Trained by Brendan P Murphy & owned by the Murphy-Ballinaboola syndicate. Murphy owns the Horse & Hound Hotel in Ballinaboola, Wexford. Aoibheann is Jim’s biggest fan. She runs across the track after the race every week and Brendan and Jim wait for her. Jim is the biggest runner in the derby weighing in at 91lbs!! He has a huge engine and has winning form over 600 yards so he stays strong. Before finishing second to Bombay Pat last week, Jim had won SEVEN races in a row which is not easy to come by when competing at the highest level. Jim started his career in Enniscorthy and it wasn’t until his fourth race that he recorded his first win. He clocked 31.36 at Shelbourne Park on his first ever 575 yards race and also reached round 3 of the Con & Annie Kirby Memorial. He ran in The Shelbourne 600 and then won the Yvonne Barry Open 600 Final in 32.40 before starting his derby campaign! A powerhouse of a dog that been a joy to watch. His career best came in the second round when he won in 29.07!

Brendan Murphy is a busy man. He has nearly 70 greyhounds between pups and track with 18 of them in the racing kennel. Brendan has never gotten this far in the derby but it’s only his second runner with the brilliant Ballinabola Ed one we all loved. The syndicate consists of Brendan and his family. It’s a bonus to get this far says Brendan. The dam of Jim had more puppies, and he is looking forward to seeing what they develop into. Brendan has two girls and his daughter Grainne was an Olympic swimmer for Ireland! He only trained for one man, Shank Whelan from Piercestown and races mostly at his local track in Enniscorthy. He has some nice pups coming along and recently sold some dogs to the UK so it's all go in Ballinaboola! He loves the coursing too and would love to breed a coursing bitch. He won a trial stake last week so best of luck at Clonmel! Brendan told me that Jim went over for a stint at Towcester but when he came back he wasn’t himself, he was out of sorts. He really only started to come back to himself recently and since winning the Yvonne Barry final, he hasn’t looked back. He is a big dog so perhaps it has taken all this time for him to develop but he is a joy to train says Brendan. Susie Sapphire is his favourite ever derby winner and his family give him a hand with the dogs as much as they can. He is a businessman and successful greyhound trainer. Hopefully Jim can give Brendan his first ever derby finalist. There would be some celebrations in The Horse & Hound if that was to happen!

Carrick Aldo

Trained by David Murray & owned by Thomas Glynn. This greyhound had never raced over the 550 yards before the derby started. He was classified as a sprinter having won the Irish Sprint Cup last year in Dundalk over 400 yards but then reached the final of the Irish Laurels at Curraheen Park last year over 525 yards. Then he reached the Irish Sprint Cup final again this year.

David trained Minnies Hazel and her sister. When he heard that Martin Mayer (from Twomileborris) was going to Droopys Sydney with Minnies he said he would love a pup as Sydney was really taking off at the time. David and owner Thomas have a great relationship and he is always buying dogs for him. David went down to look at the puppies ended up buying five of them!! He sent a video of them to Thomas and told him he really liked the black dog but Thomas wanted the brindle and that’s how he came to own Carrick Aldo at just 16 weeks old.

He was sent to Deirdre Barry to be reared. Deirdre is a great lady with the dogs and has a foster home for rehoming greyhounds, so she is heavily involved with the welfare side of things and the IRGT. When Carrick was 13 months old David began his training career. He didn’t show a lot in handslips but David thought he had a lovely stride. He went to Dundalk and he qualified without much effort. He was beaten in his first race and then popped out to clock 21.44 over 400 yards. That’s when he went on to win the Sprint Cup in 20.80, the fastest time ever done at the track for 20 years at the time! He had to go to Cork and despite it not being his favourite track he ran brilliant to make the Irish Laurels final and was 2½ weeks short (in age!) of qualifying for the Juvenile Derby!

He was unlucky in final. He had a break then over the winter and the Gold Cup was the target. He got a very bad fall in the semi-finals in February and wasn’t seen then until July for the opening round of the Sprint Cup. He won in 21.04!! He was back! He made the final but met a superstar in Broadstrand Syd. David knew that Carrick Aldo still had plenty to give but he was running against younger dogs and his early pace wasn’t as sharp as it used to be! That’s when they decided to see if the 550 yards was going to suit. His style of racing had changed and with the change in the calendar they opted to give the derby a try after he clocked 29.85 in a trial after a bad mistake at the start. They didn’t want to go back to the Irish Laurels, so a decision was made.

He won the opening heat in 29.42 and then met another star in Bockos Diamond!! He is in great form and David says he will take 3rd spot as all he wants to do is make the final! David trained a great dog called Gurteen Feather who won the Derby Plate in 2018 in a time of 29.30. The derby itself was won in 29.28 by Ballyanne Sim!

Carrick Aldo has been a wonderful servant winning over €30,000 in prize money.

Singalong Dolly

Trained by Pat Buckley & owned by Gilbert Anderson. Winner of the Puppy Oaks last year at Shelbourne Park, the Champion Bitch at Thurles this year along with the Irish Cesarewitch at Mullingar. She gave the English Greyhound Derby a go and then reached the final of the Tipperary Cup at Thurles in July.

Gilbert first came to their kennel through a mutual owner/ friend. He was looking to buy a pup and his grandson Archie laid his eyes on Singalong Sally. The rest is history of course Sally was so special to them all and was runner up to Susie sapphire in the 2021 derby final.

He has always had an eye for bitches so when the Buckley family saw Dolly finishing second in a heat of a novice competition in Shelbourne one night they sent her details to Gilbert. She developed into a beautiful bitch and came forward quickly leading to an entry in the puppy oaks which she went on to win.

After winters break, she ran in the Champion Bitch Stake. She drew 5 in the final- admittedly eyes may have been on Bobsleigh dream (their other finalist) that night out of the boxes but Dolly was determined as ever to win that final too taking off down the back!

Mullingar was next on the agenda. She won her heat booking her place in the final alongside dream who had won it previously. Dream couldn’t take her place in the final due to injury and retired that week so when Dolly won that final it was a special moment as it felt she was taking up the baton from her bestie. She broke the track record that day too. She also reached the 600 final in Shelbourne shortly after this. She loves her running.

She ran in the Dundalk international where she took a tumble and picked up an injury. Vet on the night wasn’t overly optimistic but she’s a resilient lady. For the last few months as a kennel they’ve worked on getting her back and just had her right in time for the derby.

She came in as a reserve in the opening round and won her heat in 29.39. She has qualified each week when things haven’t been straight forward for her. She finished in a dead heat last week in the quarterfinals with Hot Wood and the trainers agreed to a toss to see who would progress into the semi-finals. Dolly won the toss so you could say luck has been on her side for this entire competition. To come in as a reserve and then get through to this stage based on a toss! What is next for Dolly.

It’s also going to be James’s first time parading a Derby semi-finalist, he handles her at the track so they’ve everything crossed for both.

Good luck to all semi-finalists! Thanks to all of you for taking the time to chat to me about your superstars. 

Sarah