Bockos is back as Mag lands Magical round two gamble

BOCKOS DIAMOND got back on the winning trail after his first Shelbourne defeat a week earlier when setting the standard as round two of the BOYLE Sports Irish Derby got under way at Shelbourne Park.

Graham Holland’s reigning champion produced a dominant performance in heat four, leading early and drawing right away to beat kennelmate Faypoint Harvey by fully eight lengths in a best-of-night 29.40sec for the 550 yards.

Holland completed a double when Cheap Sandwiches powered clear from halfway in heat eight to beat Brunch Pal by five lengths in 29.49sec.

The Pat Guilfoyle-trained Magical Mag justified strong support from the sponsor’s opening 2/1 into an SP of 11/10 when just holding off 2024 English Derby champion De Lahdedah by a neck as she clocked 29.42sec in heat three.

Just 12 spots separated the other five heat winning times.