The sound of thesauruses being frantically thumbed through has been the soundtrack of greyhound scribes since Saturday as we all search for a new superlative for Bockos Diamond.
A winner of 13 of his 14 career starts, he is simply astonishing, breathtaking and stupefying! What makes him all the more exciting is that after only 14 races, there should be more to come from him. As short as 5/4 in places to win the Boylesports Irish Derby ahead of the quarter-final stage on Saturday, he has the potential to be one of the greatest of all time.
On almost any other week, Droopys Kathleen would have been a shoo in for the Shelbourne win. Her 27.77 was a remarkable run, more so for one so young. She is another who is an absolute monster in the making.
Away from Shelbourne, Amazing Spark continued his progression at Enniscorthy. He is part of an exceptional Signet Ace litter which contains the flying pup Epic Ace as well as another pair of very smart recruits in Good Knick and Lennies Desire.
There is a pair of May 23 whelps on the list, making an excellent beginning to their careers. Emperor Dream won at Kilkenny, ducking under 29 seconds on going that was -20 giving her a 28.77 calculated. It was her debut and she will have far tougher tasks ahead but only four dogs have gone quicker at St James Park in 2024.
Scrahan Lady is the other 18-month old pup on the list this week. It was her sixth race at Waterford so she has a little more in the way of experience than Emperor Dream had but it was a strong performance nonetheless.
Dundalk saw Valderrama produce the second quickest 525y run of the year. 19 spots off the clock held by Swanley Chick, it was a fifth straight win at The Ramparts for the Martin Lanney-trained dog.
