College Causeway Carrot As The Ladbrokes Irish Greyhound Derby Details Are Released
The first running of the Ladbrokes.com Irish Greyhound Derby looks set to be a thriller. This year there is a winner's prize of €120,000, but the sponsors are offering a sensational €80,000 bonus if College Causeway comes out of retirement and successfully defends his crown.
The total prize fund for this year's Ladbrokes Irish Greyhound Derby will be between €225,000 and €305,000 making it by far the richest greyhound race in Europe.
The Final will be broadcast live on RTE television on Saturday, September 11th and every heat from the first round on August 4th through to the final will be broadcast live in all Ladbrokes shops across Britain.
This is the first time that greyhound fans and punters away from Irish tracks will have live access to the competition.
There will be Derby trial stake races with guaranteed qualification for the winner run at five British tracks as well as all 19 tracks throughout the island of Ireland.
“Even at this early stage there has been great talk about this year's Ladbrokes.com Irish Derby and the additional incentive that Ladbrokes have come with to encourage College Causeway to return to defend his crown adds real extra spice to this year's renewal,” said Patrick Flynn Sales, Operations and Commercial Manager of Shelbourne Park.
“There have been some fantastic performances at Shelbourne Park in recent weeks as many of the potential stars of this year's Derby start to limber up for this year's event which remains one of the richest events in world greyhound racing”
“College Causeway earned his place in the history books last year, he's legendary. We'd just love to see him back” said Joe Lewins, Managing Director of Ladbrokes Ireland. He added “With the live broadcast into all our UK shops, punters won't miss out on any of the action. ”
The dates for the Derby are as follows:
- First round heats
- Second round heats
- Third round heats: Saturday 21st August
- Quarter- Finals: Saturday 28th August
- Semi- Finals: Saturday 4th September
- Ladbrokes Irish Greyhound Derby Final: Saturday 11th September