Out of the 12 greyhounds still remaining in the Classic, just a quarter of those could have been expected to get this far at the start of the competition. That trio of College Causeway N/A, Faypoint Man N/A and Shaneboy Lee N/A has done little to let their supporters down over the past few weeks. And this year's Derby has also seen the duo of Slip The Lark and Mid West Blue return to the kind of form which saw them get to this stage last year.
Saturday's first semi-final is undoubtedly the more appealing with three of the first four in the ante-post market all locking horns. The only unbeaten greyhound thus far in the Irish Derby is the remarkable College Causeway, who, in reaching this stage, has already set a new track record for the 550 yards distance.
Since that breathtaking first round win, Pat Buckley's kennel star has done it the hard way in having to come from well off the pace on a couple of occasions to win his respected heats. In his second round success, it looked as though the son of Go Wild Teddy might be heading for elimination before amazingly coming from fifth place to get his head in front literally on the line.
But it was at this stage last year when College Causeway dramatically made his exit from the Irish Derby. And on Saturday, he appears to have a tougher draw than he did then. On his outside in trap 4 is Slip the Lark N/A, who is the likely leader in the early stages. He didn't get the best of starts last week before running on well to follow Cashen Legend N/A home. He will most likely lead until halfway and if College gets some early race trouble, he may struggle to claw back his kennel mate.
Shaneboy Lee N/A has been turned over in the past two weeks and it does appear as though his hectic schedule is catching up with him. He was no match for College Causeway last week, when leading that rival down the back, and it's very hard to see him reversing that form. If he doesn't get a half decent start, don't be surprised to see him go crashing out. And if he does fail to qualify, then don't rule out Mid West Blue N/A nabbing that precious place in the final, something he failed to do by just a half length last year. On current form though, it's very hard to see College Causeway being beaten.
The second semi-final is more straight forward and with a satisfactory start, Faypoint Man N/A should have what it takes to win. Trap 6 is near ideal for Owen McKenna's canine and while he is unlikely to lead up Cashen Legend, he should have the pace from halfway to get the better of last year's Laurels winner. Belvedere Champ N/A is taken to book that remaining spot in this year's Irish Greyhound Derby decider.
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