QUICKSTEP A BEAUTY AT KILKENNY
Ian Fortune
Friday’s action at Kilkenny was a wonderful advertisement of greyhound racing.
The feature was of course the final of the Boylesports A3 Bitch 525 and Beautyquickstep landed the €5,000 prize with a wonderful display but there as also some exceptional displays on the undercard.
Beautyquickstep was sent to traps a 3-1 chance for the Boylesports A3 Bitch 525 and those that backed the daughter of Droopys Sydney and Lamestep were richly rewarded as she came charging through in the second half of the contest to win by a wide margin.
Black Summer was favourite after some superb displays in the prelims but she was headed in the early stages by the second choice in the betting Sunshine Jewel. This ultimately set up a chain of events that allowed Beautyquickstep to come to the fore.
Black Summer attempted to pass Sunshine Jewel between the opening two bends and early on the back straight. There was bumping between the pair, allowing Effernogue Cloe to his the front but the strong running Beautyquickstep was now in full stride on the outside of the track and she asserted on the third turn.
Trained by David Flanagan for Margaret and Birdy Barrett, Beautyquickstep raced right away to eventually see off Effernogue Cloe by five lengths in 29.00.
BOLT BY NAME, BOLT BY NATURE
Th final of the Danny & Ellen Norton Memorial saw Nomadic Bolt dictate throughout.
Owned by the Five MC Syndicate, the son of Laughil Blake and An Cailin Alainn flashed from trap two, posting a sizzling 4.19 sectional to make every inch. The August ’19 whelp came home a length and a half clear of the fast-finishing Sawdust Good Job in 28.97.
CANYA AND LACEY SHINE
Racing opened with a couple of brilliant performances from unraced greyhounds.
Both Canya Dream and Blackstone Lacey looked potentially very useful as they came home clear in their respective heats of the Caesars Takeaway ON2 525.
Canya Dream, trained by David Flanagan for Imelda Sinclair, posted a rapid 28.89 in the opening heat, leading early before staying on strongly from the third turn to win by four and a half lengths. Romeo Jet also displayed real promise, recovering from early bother to finish fast for second.
LACEY LOOKS A REAL STAR
Blackstone Lacey looked potentially very special in the second heat.
The May ’21 daughter of Droopys Sydney and Calzaghe Jan took a bump in the early yards and had to battle her way to the front on the second turn but, once seeing daylight, she raced right away to win by nine and a half lengths from Canya Bethebest in a brilliant 28.78. It’s clear the winner will be making headlines in the future.