Better Call Caul: Coolavanny Hoffa back to his very best in derby

Better Call Caul - latest Irish and UK racing news with Barry Caul

Coolavanny Hoffa was back to his very best at on Saturday night when he simply blew his rivals away to halfway and yet again posted the fastest time of the round when stopping the clock in 29:24.

Trained by dual derby winning trainer Michael O Donovan, the brilliant son of Droopys Sydney (Who was the sire of all four quarter final winners) was paw perfect at boxes and came home clear of Cryptopunk and Vincenzo.

Ballymac Finn was an all the way winner of the first heat beating Skywalker Barry and Gortkelly Nestor in 29:59.

We lost English Derby champion and Race of Champions Winner Bockos Budsit in this heat.

Maries Wedding (29:44) got up late to deny the early paced Born Warrior who again looked set for victory but struggles to see out the trip.

Droopys Nice One ran on well just behind in third. The final heat was won by the impressive youngster Callaway Pro Am (29:41) for last year's winning trainer Owen Mckenna.

Callaway Pro Am has now won nine of his 12 starts and remains the only unbeaten greyhound in the competition. Flying finisher Crafty Kokoro was a head back in second with 2021 and last years beaten finalist taking the final qualifying position.

The semi-final draw was made shortly after the heats had concluded and its safe to say heat one looks significantly stronger than the second semi-final. We tipped up Coolavanny Hoffa as our only Ante-Post selection at $34 in this piece on July 8th, he is now no bigger than $3 for outright glory.

Let's look at the upcoming semis due to be run this Saturday night at Shelbourne Park that will be broadcast live on tv.


Irish Greyhound Derby Semi Final Predictions – 17/9/22

Semi Final 1.

  1. Crafty Kokoro
  2. Explosive Boy
  3. Cryptopunk
  4. Callaway Pro Am
  5. Born Warrior
  6. Coolavanny Hoffa

Verdict: A heat worthy of a Derby Final. On first view Coolavanny Hoffa may look to have the ideal draw out in six, but if there is one dog you do not want on your immediate inside its Born Warrior. Although Warrior fails to see out the trip at the highest level, he is the only dog left in the competition capable of leading Coolavanny Hoffa to the corner and it's worth remembering that Born Warrior will steer a wide course through.

Hoffa will need to come away in his best fashion to force Born Warrior to run a middle line to the corner. Callaway Pro Am got the better of Hoffa when they met two weeks ago but drawn on the outside of Cryptopunk is not ideal, because he has some smart early pace and tends to move to the middle up.

Flying finisher Crafty Kokoro is likely to be at the rear around the opening bends, but none will finish faster and if she gets room to operate around the bottom bends, she can run them down.

That leaves us with Explosive Boy, last year's finalist has a decent draw in two with Cryptopunk likely to move off slightly from three and Crafty Kokoro not expected to trouble him early, he could get a dream run to the corner. It is a fascinating heat with so many outcomes. We have been with Hoffa since July, and we are not going to desert him now.

Semi Final 2.

  1. Ballymac Finn
  2. Skywalker Barry
  3. Maries Wedding
  4. Vincenzo
  5. Gortkelly Nestor
  6. Droopys Nice One

Verdict: Ballymac Finn has again landed a plum draw in box one. Like the first heat it looks as if one is a perfect draw for Finn, however Skywalker Barry is hugely experienced and will seek a rails pitch on the run up whereas Finn has been moving middle on the run to the corner. Maries Wedding is one of only three bitches left in the competition and is running remarkably well of late. She came home well to take Born Warrior last week and starts and stays. winner Vincenzo done well to take third last weekend. He got the verdict in a photo finish by the shortest of short heads and remains capable of much better. Andrew Murray has a small kennel of greyhounds and Gortkelly Nestor has now made it back-to-back Derby semi-finals. He missed out on a place in the final by less than a length last year and we wish Andrew all the absolute best this weekend. Droopys Nice One has most certainly gone under the in the competition. She is only a September 2020 whelp and has posted 29:37 in the past for the trip. Perfectly housed this weekend It would be no surprise to see her make the final.


Passing Of the Queen Halts UK Action

Greyhound racing in The UK ceased at around about 18:00 GMT on Thursday last, when the news of the Queens passing became known. The Birmingham Cup and have been put back a week and the first round of both events will now be run this Thursday evening (Sept 15th).


ARC Champion Hurdle at Central Park

The ARC Champion hurdle continues this Sunday evening over the jumps at . Both semi finals are due off just after 20:00 GMT and will be streamed live on Sportystuff.tv and on Racing Post Greyhound TV. Ritzy Spirit and Lenson Doolin are the standout performers left in the event and they face off in the first Semi-final. Ritzy Spirit was very impressive last weekend and should qualify with ease, expect Lenson Doolin to follow him home. The second semi-final is wide open with slight preference for Borna Rhythm to land the spoils over Bobbing Gnavatar.

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