Greyhound racing has been prevalent in Ireland ever since it arrived in 1927, with CelticPark playing host to the very first racing event in April that year. Shelbourne Park followed shortly after, and such an important event it was that British Pathé News chose to air a broadcast all about it. Since that time, Irish Greyhound racing has gone from strength to strength, with many people opting to spectate, visit the stadiums and bet on the races.
Here, we will provide you with insights into participating in Irish Greyhound Derby betting yourself, offering extra details about the events and some tips on how to succeed. Join us to take a closer look at odds relating to greyhound racing, information on the races, the best Irish Greyhound Derby 2022 betting sites, and much more.
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Top 10 List of the Best Irish Greyhound Derby Betting Sites
It is important to know about the very best Irish Greyhound Derby betting sites to join, as some provide better experiences than others. Here, we will provide a list of the top 10 sportsbooks that we recommend joining so as to bet on the greyhound races. Some of these will be familiar to you but take a look to see if one stands out as being an ideal option for you and your betting needs.
Betting Sites Taking Wagers for the Irish Derby
- Betfred – Highlights greyhound racing at the top of its menu
- PaddyPower – Inviting welcome bonus for new greyhound racing betting customers
- William Hill – Excellent greyhound racing live streaming capabilities
- Ladbrokes – Best odds guaranteed on all UK and Irish greyhound races
- Bet365 – Excellent in-play area featuring in-the-moment stats and data
- BoyleSports – Inviting promotions on greyhound racing events
- BetVictor – Bet & Watch feature to spectate on all greyhound races
- Coral – Offers live and virtual greyhound racing for betting on
- 888 Sport – Covers a vast range of greyhound racing events
- Betway – Offers betting on top leagues including Irish Greyhound Derby 2024
Irish Greyhound Derby Outright Betting Odds for 2024
Greyhound betting is one of the most popular for gamblers to experience, and outright betting is most associated with the sport. Irish Greyhound Derby betting is already available at various online sportsbooks, and the event itself is due to occur on Saturday, June 25. Held at Sherbourne Park, it remains as one of the biggest races in the greyhound calendar today and has witnessed many popular dogs winning in the past.
Many bettors will want to know about the Irish Greyhound Derby odds for the 2022 event, and different online sportsbooks provide a variety of these for outright wagers. Fortunately, it is ideal to make use of the information displayed at the Irish Greyhound Derby Oddschecker website, giving you up-to-date odds from the different platforms.
Outright betting on the greyhound event essentially sees you wagering on the dog that you believe will come in first place and win it. Therefore, it serves as the simplest type of sports bet to place. The Irish Greyhound Derby 2022 features 12 different dogs participating, and various factors are considered regarding each runner to decide upon the odds relating to their chances of victory in the race.
Take a look at the best odds for each runner, and the online bookmaker that is providing those Irish Greyhound Derby odds.
History of Irish Greyhound Betting Final: Why It Matters
Greyhound racing as it is known in today’s world, first came about in 1927, with the first meeting being held in CelticPark in Belfast. It was the same year that the English Derby was also held, and the Irish then, in turn, took the name Derby from the English for their events. The first ever Irish Derby was run at Harold’s Cross, Dublin in 1928. Four years later, the event was given Classic status, which saw it move to an alternative Dublin location – Shelbourne Park.
Harold’s Cross and Shelbourne Park went on to stage the event in alternate years until the end of the 60s. Only two exceptions to that rule occurred, with the 1939 Derby occurring in Limerick at Markets Field, and the 1942 event taking place in Cork at Western Road. Since 1970, Shelbourne Park has remained as the permanent home of the Irish Greyhound Derby, and since 1986, this has run over 550 yards.
The prize money has varied over the decades, and indeed from year to year as well. In 2020 for example, the prize money purse was €255,460, with €115,000 of that going to the winner. The following year, the prize money purse stood at €300,000, and €125,000 of that went to the winner, which was Susie Sapphire, running the course in 29.18 seconds. This marked the first time that a bitch had won the Derby since Spring Time in the 1999 Irish Greyhound Derby. BoyleSports has sponsored the event for the past eight years.
The event is considered to be one of the biggest races in the greyhound calendar, alongside the English Greyhound Derby. Throughout the years, the most successful dog has been Spanish Battleship, which went on to win it three times.
How Does the Irish Greyhound Derby Work?
For some people, it may be common to simply focus on the Irish Greyhound Derby final, but there is a lot more to the event than this. Various other races take place prior to the final race held at Shelbourne Park. The 2022 event is scheduled to begin on Friday, August 19 and then continue on with various rounds until the final occurs on Saturday, September 24.
The dogs running in the final have to be determined by going through other races. The first-round races take place, with 2022’s occurring on the 19th and 20th August. Then, the qualifying dogs move into the second round, before the third round occurs the week after, which determines those greyhounds competing in the quarter finals.
The quarter finals are usually split into four heats, with six greyhounds running in each. Then, three from each heat will qualify through to the next round. Two semi-finals then take place with six runners in each one to determine the finalists, with three from each one progressing through. This determines six greyhounds partaking in the final race, which will “crown” a winner of the overall Irish Greyhound Derby.
The course that the greyhounds run at Shelbourne Park is 550 yards long, which was increased from 525 yards in 1986. This makes it roughly equal to the English Greyhound Derby in distance, which occurs across 500 metres (roughly 547 yards).
Latest Irish Greyhound Derby Betting Offers
Because of the popularity of greyhound racing and betting, online sportsbooks tend to provide their players with the opportunity to have an even better experience with wagering. Therefore, depending upon the bookmaker site that you are a part of you may get to benefit from such extra perks. Naturally, these promotions tend to become a lot more prevalent and useful around events like the Derby and serve to enhance your greyhound betting experience significantly.
Paddy Power
If you engage in Paddy Power Irish Greyhound Derby betting, for example, you have the opportunity to utilise the Money Back as a Free Bet If 2nd or 3rd to the SP Fav promotion. This sees you receive your money back in the form of a free bet should your chosen greyhound finish second or third to the favourite runner. A maximum reward of €10 can be gained from this promotion coming into effect.
Coral
There is a great setup in place at Coral as well, where you will not only always get the best odds guaranteed on all UK and Irish races, but get to participate in the Daily Trap Challenge. Live streaming is also provided for anyone betting on the Irish Greyhound Derby, with early prices provided on selected races, too.
Betfred
The Betfred platform has a couple of offers that cover both Irish greyhound racing as well as horse racing events. If you place a Lucky 15, Lucky 31, Lucky 63, Yankee, Canadian or Heinz on the event and all your selections run and win, Betfred pays you a bonus in cash of up to 25% on top of your total winnings. Additionally, placing a Lucky 15, Lucky 31 or Lucky 53 on the greyhounds sees you receive 3x, 4x or 5x the odds of your bet in cash if your selections run but only one of them wins.
Boyle Sports
If you bet at the BoyleSports website, you can utilise the Money Back as a Free Bet if 2nd to SP Fav reward that is one hand there. This offers you the chance to receive up to €20 back on a wager placed on the greyhounds, if your chosen runner comes in second place to the favourite in the race.
The great part about all of these special offers is that there is nothing stopping you from using multiple perks at once. The Money Back rewards from BoyleSports and PaddyPower on the Irish Greyhound Derby are ideal, because you could utilise such when backing dogs in the first round, second round, quarter finals and so on. The likelihood is that as the Irish Greyhound Derby 2022 event gets nearer, more special offers and promotions relating specifically to it will be brought into play for you to claim.
Why not take advantage of one or more of these current special offers to back your favoured dog(s) in this year’s event? You never know, the Irish Greyhound Derby results may just fall in your favour.
Influencing Factors of Greyhound Derby Betting Odds
Regardless of the Derby that is in question, the betting odds are affected by several different factors. Therefore, it is important to realise and understand what these factors are, and how they are likely to sway the odds one way or another. Take a look at some of these below.
Results of Heats
The various heats that take place before the Irish Greyhound Derby final will, of course, have an effect on the odds provided for each dog. The speed with which they each completed the race itself (as well as whether or not they qualify, of course) is brought into consideration, and that will be compared with all other details to figure out a potential time that they will run the final race in. Naturally, a speedier dog is likely to be favoured more so than one that finishes the heats, quarterfinals and semi-finals in a slower time.
Form At Shelbourne Park
If you’re interested in good Irish Greyhound Derby 2024 tips, then you would definitely benefit from looking at the runners’ forms at Shelbourne in previous years, if they have competed there before. Different greyhounds participate at different strengths when it comes to the various courses they run at, so it is ideal to know how each one has performed at Shelbourne Park prior to the final taking place.
Tracks and Traps
When it comes down to it, there really shouldn’t be much difference in terms of which trap has held the most winning dogs. That being said, in practice, there are certain traps at tracks that tend to fare better than some others. In 2021, Susie Sapphire won the race from trap 1, whereas in 2020, Newinn Taylor won, having been released from trap 6. And prior to that, in 2019, Lenson Bocko won after having been let out of trap 5. While there is little correlation between those, it is ideal to look at the winning traps across the entire event, from heats through to final, in Derbys past.
Trainer Record in the Irish Greyhound Derby
Every greyhound is cared for and trained by a specific trainer. Owen McKenna was responsible for Susie Sapphire winning in 2021, but in 2020, his greyhound Pestana came in sixth position in the final race. Prior to that, he hadn’t been seen in the final since 2015. However, if you take a look at someone like Graham Holland, he has had runners in the final for many years, winning in 2016 with Rural Hawaii, 2019 with Lenson Bocko and 2020 with Newinn Taylor. Greyhounds trained by him were also in the finals in 2021, 2018, 2017, 2015 and 2013.
General Form for the Season
It’s not only the Irish Greyhound Derby event that bookies look at when deciding upon odds, either. The entire season and how each dog has performed also comes into play, meaning that if a greyhound is seen as doing well generally in heats but not going any further, there will be doubts about its ability to win the Derby.
Greyhound Derby Betting Markets
While it may seem to some people that greyhound betting is all about selecting the outright winner of the race, that’s not actually true. There are a few other markets that you have the ability to place wagers on at different bookmakers. So, it’s not all about simply selecting the Irish Greyhound Derby winners.
If you want to find out more about the different betting markets for the Irish Derby, then you will find all available options at your chosen online sportsbook. Yet we have put together some insight into the most popular and common options that bettors back.
Outright Bet
This is, without a doubt, the most popular market that players bet on. An outright bet sees you simply trying to figure out which dog will win the race. It can be utilised on the Irish Greyhound Derby final or on any of the qualifying races that occur beforehand.
Forecast Bet
A forecast bet allows you to select two greyhounds in a race that you believe will win and come in second place as runner up. Sports bettors will often select their favoured greyhounds based on the trap that they are running from, rather than their name, which is different to horse racing. So, if you back the dog in trap 4 to win and the one in trap 2 to come second, then this is exactly what needs to happen in the race for a forecast bet to win.
Reverse Forecast Bet
You can also be a little less specific with your chosen forecast bet with this reverse option. Again, you get to choose two dogs, but the position that they come in is not as relevant. Let’s say you back traps 1 and 5 and they come first and second, your wager will still be won regardless of which one finishes first and which one is in second place.
Tricast Bet
Should you be feeling lucky, then perhaps you’ll want to engage in a tricast wager on the Derby. In this instance, you select three runners that you believe will finish in the top three positions.
Each Way Tricast Bet
This is similar to the standard tricast bet, but it comes with a little more cover to it. With this one, you don’t have to dictate which runners you believe will come in first, second and third. You simply select three greyhounds to finish as the top three, and regardless of which one places where, you still receive a payout if they do indeed finish that way.
Recent Irish Greyhound Derby Winners
Different greyhounds have been at the forefront of the Irish Greyhound Derby as its relevant winner over the years. Obviously, these dogs have made it through the heats, the quarterfinals and the semi-finals before picking up the victory in the main event. Take a look at the previous 10 winners of the Irish Greyhound Derby final.
Year | Winner | Greyhound Derby Betting Odds | Trainer | Venue |
2021 | Susie Sapphire | 2/1 | Owen McKenna | Shelbourne Park |
2020 | Newinn Taylor | 13/8 | Graham Holland | Shelbourne Park |
2019 | Lenson Bocko | 4/5f | Graham Holland | Shelbourne Park |
2018 | Ballyanne Sim | 12/1 | James Robinson | Shelbourne Park |
2017 | Good News | 7/4f | Patrick Guilfoyle | Shelbourne Park |
2016 | Rural Hawaii | 4/1 | Graham Holland | Shelbourne Park |
2015 | Ballymac Matt | 3/1 | Liam Dowling | Shelbourne Park |
2014 | Laughil Blake | 4-5f/1 | Michael O’Donovan | Shelbourne Park |
2013 | Slippery Robert | 5/1 | Robert Gleeson | Shelbourne Park |
2012 | Skywalker Puma | 2/1f | Frances O’Donnell | Shelbourne Park |
Irish Greyhound Derby Tips 2024
It’s always ideal to have a few hints and tips on hand when it comes to any sports event where betting is involved. And this is what we’re here for today – to give some insight into the best Irish Greyhound Derby 2024 tips. You can then utilise these pieces of knowledge to set about placing your own wagers.
Don’t Base Everything on Round One
It’s not uncommon for bookmakers to overreact to a greyhound putting on a flashy performance in Round One. The Irish Greyhound Derby results from this round are not supremely significant for some dogs, though. Keep a look out for any runners that may have a little trouble in Round One, but still manage to qualify through. A better draw in the second round may see them improve.
Don’t Get Carried Away by a Couple of Easy Wins
It’s very difficult for a greyhound to remain unbeaten throughout the Derby, so it’s important to not get over-excited by a couple of simple victories. The last dog to go undefeated throughout the Derby was Westmead Hawk in 2006, so you can see it hasn’t happened for a long time. Make sure you keep an eye on all the qualifiers, rather than the dogs that simply win their heats and qualifying rounds.
Don’t Despair
If you have backed a dog that doesn’t win its qualifying round, but still manages to qualify through in second or third place, then don’t despair at this. The last greyhound that won its semi-final and then the final was Blonde Snapper in the English Derby, and this occurred in 2012. Therefore, when it comes to good Irish Greyhound Derby tips, a primary one would be to keep cool.
Make Use of Information
Insights into how things are going, what the current odds are, which bookmakers are favouring which dog(s), and so on is all useful. Make sure you use as much of this information as possible. Using the Irish Greyhound Derby oddschecker data can prove to be quite vital to many bettors, offering a look at which platforms are offering the best odds.
Step-by-Step Guide to Placing a Bet on the Irish Greyhound Derby
If you want to proceed with benefitting from the Irish Greyhound Derby odds and engaging in betting on the event, then you will need to know how to proceed with this at a sportsbook. Here, we will guide you through registering for an account, depositing, selecting your bet(s) and having an enjoyable time with the race.
Step One – Register for a Sportsbook Account
You’ll need to sign up for an account at an online sportsbook first and foremost. We’re using PaddyPower in our example, but the process is very much the same from bookie to bookie. Registration requires certain pieces of information from you, such as your name, date of birth, mobile phone number, and more.
Step Two – Verify Your Account and Make a Deposit
To keep everything safe and secure, you will be requested to verify your account via the upload of a driving licence, passport or national identity card. Once this has been completed, you will be able to make a deposit into your account. Simply visit the cashier by pressing on the ‘Deposit’ button and then choose your preferred payment method. Enter an amount to deposit, taking note of any minimum deposit necessary to qualify for a welcome reward.
Step Three – Select Your Greyhound Race and Market
You can then proceed to the sportsbook and locate the greyhounds section via the menu. To proceed with Irish Greyhound Derby betting, you need to visit the ‘Antepost’ section, where you will find the event listed. You will also see the odds listed for each runner, as well as the race date that you are wagering on.
Step Four – Place Your Antepost Bet
Clicking on the odds of one of the greyhounds will display the selection on your bet slip to the right-hand side. There, you can enter the amount you wish to stake on it, as well as deciding upon an Each Way wager or not. Your potential returns if the dog wins will also be displayed, and you can then proceed with adding the bet to your slip with the green button at the bottom of the slip.
The Takeaway
Having read through this guide, we’re hopeful that you now have all the knowledge necessary to engage in some exciting bets on Irish Greyhound racing. By using the tips we have provided here, you may just end up correctly predicting the Irish Greyhound Derby results and securing yourself a nice payout. Follow the simple steps to sign up to a recommended platform, benefit from their promotions on greyhound races, and have yourself a great time greyhound betting.