AN EVENTFUL MONDAY AT ENNISCORTHY

Ian Fortune

There was plenty of superb racing to reflect upon at Enniscorthy on Monday night with the final of the Showgrounds September Unraced ON2 525 and the opening round of the Kiltrea Kennels Open Unraced 525 dominating proceedings.

The final of the Showgrounds September Unraced was a might messy affair but Soul Destroyer displayed plenty of quality to overcome bad traffic before going on to land the €1,900 prize. Trained by Anton Butler for Alan Dobbs, the son of Soul and Love Island wasn’t fastest into stride from trap three but flew into the turn to hold a narrow lead.

Cutting for the fence, he couldn’t quite get around the favourite Onetwoonetiger and this led to an opening bend scrimmage. Soul Destroyer was briefly headed but he quickly recovered and motored into the third turn to take over from Liam Be Slick. 

Onetwoonetiger did run on well from off the pace to come through for second but there was no catching Soul Destroyer, who came home five lengths clear in 29.28. It’s fair to say the winner will go considerably faster in the future.

ANGEL TAKES FLIGHT

The opening round of the Kiltrea Kennels Open Unraced featured a couple of notable displays although none went faster than Liam Walsh’s Angry Angel as she took flight in Heat 4.

There Peter Cronin trained daughter of Ballymac Best and Angry Lauren broke smartly and proceeded to make every inch for a facile five and a half-length success over her kennel companion Swithins Teejay in 28.88.

PUCA FRIGHTENS OFF RIVALS

The Paul Hennessy trained Cosy Puca was next fastest as he came home clear in Heat 3.

Susan Hennessy’s well-bred daughter of Jaytee Dutch and Hey Delilah took a bump at boxes but recovered well to turn close to the pace.

Moving to the front early in the back straight, the half-sister to former English Derby champion Thorn Falcon eased right away to score by six and a half lengths from Beloved Bullet in 28.96.

ASH NEXT FASTEST

To highlight the quality of the displays of Angry Angel and Cosy Puca, the next fastest heat winner was Pat and Thomas O’Gorman’s Edermine Ash, who stayed on well to lead late for a half length victory in 29.49 in the final heat.

The two remaining heats were muddling affairs with many of those in action finding traffic. The opening heat saw Catherine McCarthy’s Ballyhoe Jasper claim a narrow victory over Ballinabla Buzz in 29.72, while Mark Sullivan’s Ballyboy Tiger won the second heat in similar fashion, leading home the red-hot favourite Cloneden Flash by a length in 29.70.