There was an exciting derby atmosphere last night at the Ringsend venue where two litter brothers have created
racing history winning back to back Irish Derbys.
Last year it was the Jennifer O’Donnell trained ‘Born Warrior’, this year it was
the Jennifer O’Donnell trained,’ The Other Kobe’ out of Ballymac Best (sire) and Mountavior Queen (dam).
What an achievement for the Tipperary based handler , who was overcome with emotion, at the end of a pulsating
final.
Above pictures ; The crowd roar the famous derby roar and the emotional hug of success
Everyone you spoke to had an opinion on how the final would unfold.
Ultimately, as you reflect, ‘The Other Kobe’ whelped in september 2020, came right, at the right time coming to form when connections needed him to.
Picking up the BoyleSports sponsored derby prize and purse of €125,000, the trap 2 dog , got away fast and did enough to hold off the challenges
of ‘Rockos Crystal’ in trap 5 and the fast finishing ‘Bens Teddy’ in trap 3 in a clock of 29.11 the fastest clock of the derby.
Take nothing away , this was some racing and training achievement , to pull of against well respected opposition , in terms of trainers and talent.
Earlier in the day , the winner was quoted at 2/1 with money coming from the Pat Buckley trained , ‘Bens Teddy’, who eventually carried
the tag of favourite (11/4).
It looked good as he (T3) approached the third bend but appeared to lose ground when winding up for the sprint down the home straight.
You still had Graham Holland charge closing in too but the early pace of ‘The Other Kobe’ and ground made then proved enough to hold off the challenges either side by 1 length to trap 5 , and 1 1/2 lengths from trap 3.
Pic;’ The Other Kobe’ being led by Jennifer O’Donnell and handler to the winning podium
There was coverage of the final by Virgin TV, presented by greyhound enthusiast and former politician, Ivan Yates. They covered the BoylesSport Derby from the quarterfinals in and in doing so gave much needed national publicity to the greyhound industry.
On the night of a top class card of races that included 11 other races with plenty of upsets with all types of fancy prices from 10/1 to 12/1 winning and 5 favourites justifying the tag.
In the opening race the Ian Reilly trained,’Fire Time’ took the honours in a time of 28.23 at 6/1.
The Michael Fortune Memorial was won by Blastoff Mac at 10/1in a time of 29.50 by another Tipperary based, Philip Buckley owned and trained, picking up a pot of €7,500.
The colours of blue and saffron will adorn the trophies for the next year.
