JOHN WHELAN MEMORIAL CUP HEADLINES PROCEEDINGS AT LIMERICK

Peter Farrell

Peter Farrell

Kindly sponsored by the Whelan Family, the final of the John Whelan Memorial Cup will go down for decision at Limerick Greyhound Stadium tonight and it promises to produce a thrilling encounter.

Offering a brilliant winner’s purse of €4,500 to the winner, this is the second running the John Whelan Memorial Cup after Stream Of Sydney raced to a top-class victory twelve months ago. Fast forward to this year’s renewal and Pat Buckley once again holds all the aces as Ballinabola Una bids to maintain her unbeaten record in the stake.

Indeed, Ballinabola Una hasn’t put a foot wrong since descending onto Limerick and she broke her maiden tag in the opening round when posting a slick 28.63 from off-the-pace. That style of running proved a theme of her success as in round two, she produced another strong running display to clock 28.66, while her most polished performance to date arrived last Saturday night when winning her semi final in a rapid 28.37. There is little doubt that the December daughter of Burgess Bucks and Dolls Lady is improving at a rate of knots, however, this final is far from a foregone conclusion. Ballinabola Una will no doubt start as the favourite to seal a four-timer but she can ill-afford to allow her rivals to get loose. Of the main dangers, the inside duo of Rattlefence and Glengar Jasmine fit the bill and given they are both drawn inside of Ballinabola Una, any slip-ups at traprise could see the jolly in all sorts of trouble. Closest on the clock is Glengar Jasmine. Owned locally by Corona Ryan, the daughter of Droopys Sydney has shown huge ability throughout the stake and despite being forced to settle for second in last week's semis, she improved some thirty-five spots from her second round win. Housed in two, she will need another slick exit to position herself favourably on the run to the turn but make no mistake, she is certainly capable of landing this brilliant feature. The race to the bend will prove crucial and although Glengar Jasmine has that terrific 1.23 early sectional to her name, the most consistent breaker in the lineup is the Paraic Campion-trained Rattlefence. The son of Droopys Jet regularly dips under the 1.30 mark and he has the added benefit of being the best drawn dog in the race, donning the red jacket that he absolutely flew from last weekend. A 28.62 clock was a career best for Rattlefence on that occasion and if he pings in front, he will prove very difficult to peg back. Of the others, Freeway Sharky is another whose stock continues to rise. The September whelp, owned jointly by Keith Freer and Alan Brazier has consistently dipped under 29-seconds without winning a round and could well benefit from his draw in trap four. A massive 88-pounder, the son of Good News has plenty of ability and he too has the early pace to make life difficult for one or two early on. The remaining two finalists are Four Bullets and Freedom Reader, two trackers who are certainly not there to make up the numbers. Four Bullets, owned by Gerard O’Connell, is a notorious slow starter but will be finishing with a bang come the business end. Given the early speed on his inner, O’Connell’s charge will hope for some traffic early on and should this be the case, he will no doubt be in the vicinity to pick up the pieces. Paraic Campion will be very hopeful of a big night and he is doubly represented by the two book-ends, the second of which is Freedom Reader. One of the more experienced trackers in the line-up, the son of Magical Bale has caught the eye in his last two starts in particular with his strong running ability from halfway. Posting sub 28.90 performances in each of those starts, if he can sharpen up at traps he is a big player but is certainly a greyhound who will prove popular for trio backers.

Verdict - All in all, this is a tremendous final with each of the six finalists boasting credible claims to land gold. The narrow vote however, goes to the experienced Rattlefence in trap one. Although he has a lot to make-up on the clock, Ballinabola Una has a potentially tricky draw and could find traffic early on.