Irish Greyhound Derby Could Be a Picnic of Cheap Sandwiches

by Roy Brindley, 25 September 2025

Bookmakers believe Saturday’s Irish Greyhound Derby final will be a piece of cake for Cheap Sandwiches.

Will Irish eyes smile (again) on the British challenger in the 2025 BoyleSports Irish Greyhound Derby? © Getty

Key Facts:

• Holland is chasing history with Cheap Sandwiches in the Irish Greyhound Derby final.
• Proper Heiress seeks to become the second Derby winner to benefit from a semi-final DQ.
• British challenger is 10-from-10 when wearing a red jacket.
• €125,000 Dublin final takes place this Saturday, with NFL fans likely to boost the numbers.

Cheap Sandwiches, runner-up in the 2024 BoyleSports Irish Greyhound Derby, is odds-on favourite to go one place better in the 2025 Derby decider. The €125,000 to-the-winner final takes place at Dublin’s Shelbourne Park on Saturday evening.

Should the market principal prevail, his trainer, Graham Holland, will officially become the most successful Irish Greyhound Derby trainer in history. The 64-year-old Brit has won the classic four times, with all victories coming since 2016.

Holland’s Bockos Diamond was successful last year. At 30/100 odds, he was the shortest-priced winner in the race’s history. In a cruel blow, the superstar’s attempt to defend his title was halted due to injury ahead of the third round of this year’s contest.

Heiress the Third Dog to Win in Ireland for England?

The leading online betting sites quote Cheap Sandwiches, who finished fourth in the 2025 English Greyhound Derby in June, on 4/7 odds. Proper Heiress, the only greyhound to have beaten the big race favourite during the Irish competition, is the 9/2 joint second favourite alongside Glengar Silent.

Proper Heiress continued to do us proud last night with an incredibly brave run to win his quarter-final of the Irish Derby and book his spot in the semi-finals 🥳🤞🏻 Well done to Harry and @danwallisss 💪🏻 pic.twitter.com/9s2Dec4e2m

— Mark Wallis (@MWDpartnership) September 14, 2025

Should Proper Heiress land Ireland’s premier greyhound race, he would go down in history as only the fourth British-trained Irish Derby winner. Most recently, Toms The Best took the prize for Nick Savva’s British kennel in 1997.

Yellow Printer was the first to claim the title for the UK in 1968. Greyhound enthusiasts will know 1968 has significance in regard to this year’s Derby, as it was the year Camira Flash won the English Greyhound Derby despite finishing fourth in the semi-final.

Owned by Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, Camira Flash was given a place in the decider following the disqualification of the original third-place finisher, Not Flashing, who aggressively interfered with a rival and was disqualified.

Promoted to the Derby final despite crossing the line in fourth in the semi-final, Camira Flash (100/8), owned by Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, won the 1968 Greyhound Derby. Witches Smoke finished second at odds of 100/7. pic.twitter.com/mGbJTr90KF

— Sports & Betting History by BestBettingSites (@BettingSitesCom) July 12, 2025

Ten From 1 Is a Proper Record

Last Saturday, Proper Heiress crossed Shelbourne Park’s 550-yard winning line in fourth position only to be promoted into the BoyleSports Derby final post-race following the disqualification of the runner-up, Oreo Ollie, once again for aggressive interference.

Can these rare circumstances result in a second Derby success for a greyhound that was down and out until the intervention of the stewards? Proper Heiress’ perfect 10-from-10 record when starting from the trap-1 he will emerge from on Saturday suggests it is very possible.

Connections of other finalists: Magical Mag, Barefoot On Song, Glengar Silent, and Droopys Deploy will take some comfort in Cheap Sandwiches’ relatively poor record when starting as an odds-on favourite at Shelbourne Park. He has been defeated four times when priced shorter than even-money at the Dublin circuit.

How Can I Watch the Irish Greyhound Derby Final?

The 2025 BoyleSports Irish Greyhound Derby is due off at 9:27 PM on Saturday. With Dublin hosting an NFL game the following day – and a generous handful of the 35,000-plus visiting American sports fans likely to take an interest in proceedings – any remaining tickets will likely be snapped up quickly.

Armchair viewers can watch the race live on SISracing.tv. In Ireland, as part of a one-hour show fronted by former politician and bookmaker Ivan Yates, the final will be broadcast live on Virgin Media TV.