ORIENTAL CORY THE STANDOUT PERFORMER IN KASKO UNRACED SEMIS

Peter Farrell

The semi finals of the Kasko Dog Foods Unraced 525 dominated proceedings at Thurles Greyhound Stadium on Saturday night and the night belonged to Oriental Cory as he marched into the decider as very much the one to beat.

A winner on debut in a respectable 29.55, Oriental Cory took a huge step forward on the night as the May pup, owned by the Organised-Chaos-Syndicate, carved almost eight lengths off his opening-round effort.

Sent off the 6/4 second favourite behind Tromora Axel, ‘Cory’ broke smartly from trap three and wasted no time in asserting, quickly sweeping past the early leader Drill Baby Drill to seize control. Once in front, the son of Coolavanny Hoffa – Newinn Willow built a three-length advantage down the back straight, and it soon became clear the race had developed into a two-dog battle as Tromora Axel gave a determined chase in second. Although the favourite closed steadily through the final stages, ‘Cory’ had the measure of his rival and stayed on strongly to cross two lengths clear, stopping the clock in a superb 28.91. The remaining qualifier was Lemon Maverick, who kept on for third a further nine and a half lengths adrift.

BACK-TO-BACK FOR BONO

In the opening semi final, Goldmine Bono also made it back-to-back wins for joint owners Aoife O’Gorman and Francis Tobin.

Sent off at 2/1, Goldmine Bono was only moderately into stride from trap four and found early traffic at the opening bend. Despite the trouble, he cleverly navigated around his rivals to move into second down the back straight. By this stage, the field had become strung out and it was Mind Your Knee who held a two-length advantage at halfway. That lead, however, was always under threat, and as they approached the crown of the penultimate bend, ‘Bono’ began to shift gears. Displaying the superior stamina, the powerful son surged past the leader and quickly put the race to bed. Driving on strongly up the home straight, Goldmine Bono crossed the line two and a half lengths clear in a smart 29.81. Cluendarby Jet stayed on well to grab second, while Mind Your Knee held on for third and a spot in next Saturday night’s decider.