Duffle heading down under as Dowling eyes Australia with homebred track stars

LIAM DOWLING, who sent out the second, third and fourth-placed finishers in Saturday’s Derby final at Towcester, has confirmed ambitious plans for one of those runners with Ballymac Duffle poised to head to Australia for a new racing campaign.

The dog will be joined by litter-sister Ballymac Chantry, Towcester semi-finalist Ballymac Iroko and kennelmate Ballymac Altobel as the Kerry-based breeder looks to fulfil a long-held ambition to race his in Australia.

He said: “It’s something I’ve had in mind for many years and my son Shane has been dealing with the paperwork involved. Once that’s in order, the dogs will be heading over to George Daly in Melbourne and we’ll see how things go.

“As much as anything it will give us a yardstick to see what level we’re at. The dogs we’re sending over are all strong types who should be suited to the test.

“If all goes well then it would be lovely to head out and see them run at some point.”

Dowling also took time to reflect on another impressive English Derby campaign which saw him only narrowly fail to follow up his previous success with De Lahdedah in 2024.

“I’ve no complaints with how the dogs ran, and we were just beaten by the better dog on the night in Lennies Eddie,” he said.

“When [Ballymac] Deniro beat him in the quarter-finals I thought Paul’s [Hennessy, trainer] dog ran a fantastic race to go down by a length and a half and I felt he was a danger from that point.

“Fair play to them, the dog won it on merit and Towcester had a great atmosphere and a good crowd despite the weather. I’d like to think we’ll be back again next year and credit to Mike Davis and everyone there for the work they’re doing.”

There had been conjecture during the Derby about dogs not breaking well from traps one and six from the new hydraulic starting traps, and Dowling said: “I don’t have any issues with those type of traps. My one observation would perhaps be to look at the hare and aim for consistency at the point it hits the striker. All everyone wants is a level playing field and not for any dogs to charge the traps.

“That’s just my take on things, but I thought it was a fantastic competition and, as ever, we enjoyed our stay with Peter Harnden and his family.

“The dogs all came out of the final in great shape. I thought Deniro did everything he could. He’s had a busy campaign for a young dog and will now have a break before we set our sights on the Irish Derby.”

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