Burton hoping for 'remarkable' Welsh Derby victory at Valley

MIKE BURTON, who landed a double in the first round heats of the Star Sports Welsh Derby at Valley last weekend courtesy of Face The Storm and Magical Hawk, says it would be a "remarkable achievement" where he to send out the ultimate winner.

In an interview with Star Sports' Emily Wallis ahead of the semi-finals on Saturday, the former British Lion rugby player recounts his background in greyhound racing and discusses the chances of his two qualifiers in depth whilst also touching on the future of greyhound racing in Wales.

Saturday also sees the start of the €30,000 Bar 1 Betting Irish Laurels at Curraheen Park with sisracing.tv picking up live coverage from round two onwards.

The Liam Dowling-trained Ballymac Setanta, fifth behind Magical On Fire in last year's decider and who recently dominated the Michael Fortune Memorial Derby Plate at Shelbourne Park, is the general 5/1 favourite.

His kennelmate Solo And Go, the 2025 runner-up, is joint-second in at 6/1 along with John Linehan's Irish Sprint Cup finalist Montana Secret.

Irish Laurels (Curraheen Park, final Saturday 17th October): 5 Ballymac Setanta, 6 Montana Secret, Solo And Go, 10 Droopys Monk, Grouchos Secret, 12 Shotgun Dez, 14 Droopys Porter, Lennies Eddie, 16 Jaykay Fly, Lennies Dynamic, 20 bar (e-w 1/4 1,2,3,4,5,6).

The Category One SIS Star Sports Stewards Cup starts with six heats over Star Pelaw’s 590m on Saturday with Witton Gucci the outright favorite at 5/2.

Glenn Foot's local has won her last five, three over the course and distance, while Tom Heilbron's reigning champion Ballymac Sargie is given a dismissive 25/1 quote.

Star Sports (Stewards’ Cup, final Saturday 10th October): 5/2 Witton Gucci, 4 Droopys Bookem, 6 Rapido Benny, 8 Antigua Kestrel, 10 Droopys Graph, 12 Razldazl Paloma, The Other Chief, 14 Newmoors Amore, 16 Keplar Venom, Rebel Eclipse, 18 Fabulous Spell, 20 bar (e-w 1/4 1,2,3,4).

The big-race Irish action starts early on sisracing.tv following news that Friday's Kilkenny meeting featuring the €10,000 Lennies Derby A1 final is to be covered live - semi-final winners Da Bold Johnjoe and Rallying Billy are drawn alongside each other in traps one and two.