Next year’s Irish big race calendar was released by the Irish Greyhound Board yesterday and the 2016 Irish Derby will take place on Saturday September 17.
The most significant change will see the Irish Laurels, won this year by Midtown Raffa on May 9 move to the middle of the summer.
This year’s event clashed with the English Derby, resulting in a very poor entry for what is known as the ‘Southern Derby’ and organisers were keen not to see the clash happen again.
The event will now be run after the English Derby and conclude on Saturday July 16, the week before the Champion Stakes, a recognised pre-Derby warm-up contest, is run at Shelbourne Park.
