Ballymac Vic no value with sponsors in Derby quarter-final

The 23 remaining contenders will go to war in the four quarter-finals of the Ladbrokes Irish Derby at Shelburne on Saturday and the big task is in pin-pointing the six dogs likely to make it all the way to the final on September 8th.

Without doubt, it has been a marvellous competition thus far with most of the ante-post favourites progressively nicely to this stage. What is particularly pleasing is that 15 of the 23 contenders on Saturday are members of the 2010 crop of pups and we can expect these dogs to be at their peak next year.

Razldazl Luke is by far the youngest and he is actually eligible for the Puppy Derby which starts at Harold’s Cross on the eve of the Derby final. One feels sorry for Robert Gleeson and the Drinking Machines Syndicate, owners of Stay Thirsty which has had to be withdrawn from the quarter finals due to a wrist knock.