BACK-TO-BACK ST. LEGER TITLES FOR THE INCREDIBLE CLONBRIEN TREATY

Peter Farrell

Clonbrien Treaty will be forever known as a generational talent as the Graham Holland-trained star claimed a fourth Classic success in the final of the 2024 Willwego.com Irish St. Leger at Limerick Greyhound Stadium on Saturday night.

Time Up Please was the last greyhound that managed to go back-to-back in the St. Leger as he tasted success in 1971-72 and that was the uphill task that faced Clonbrien Treaty some six weeks ago when his name went into the hat for the €30,000 to the winner Classic. However, despite simmering through the opening few rounds, James and Muireann Murphy’s blue was coming to the boil nicely and he took off in the semis with a devastating turn of early speed to cement his status as the one to beat in the decider. Fast-forward one week and Clonbrien Treaty made absolutely no mistakes as he joined a list of just two other trackers to go back-to-back in the St. Leger, as well as clocking the fastest ever time in the Classic final.

STRONG FAVOURITE

Prior to the off, it wasn’t surprising to see Clonbrien Treaty shorten in the market and he was sent to traps as the 5/4 favourite to defend his title with Jaytee Craze next best at 10/3. Paul Hennessy’s second runner was Barefoot On Fire and he came in for some support at 5/1, while it was 6/1 Miami King, 8/1 Coolavanny Otto and the outsider of the pack was Ventry Faith at odds of 9/1. Given the latter was the fastest semi final winner, that gives an indication of the abundance of talent amongst the six finalists.

PING START FOR KING

Touted as a guaranteed leader beforehand, connections would have been holding their breath at traprise as Clonbrien Treaty was the last to emerge from six. In contrast, Miami King took a flier from trap three and he was soon joined by Barefoot On Fire in the opening strides. Jaytee Craze was next to follow in third with Coolavanny Otto in close proximity just ahead of Ventry Faith in fifth. However, within the blink of an eye, Clonbrien Treaty left his rivals for dust.

SENSATIONAL EARLY SPEED

Showing an incredible burst of early speed, Clonbrien Treaty quickly recovered from his poor start to storm past his rivals in the early yards and his wide-running style saw him swoop the opening bend in the most impressive fashion. In behind saw Miami King hold his position well to turn two lengths adrift of ‘Treaty’ and connections would have been licking their lips at this point given the strong running attributes of their charge in second. Barefoot On Fire occupied third place entering the back straight and they were strung out in indian file as Jaytee Craze sat fourth ahead of Ventry Faith, with Coolavanny Otto occupied the rear of the field. Clonbrien Treaty, while steering a wide course, was not given an inch to his rivals however, and he maintained an exceptional gallop to the penultimate bend; at this point, a fourth Classic was well within his sights.

FOURTH CLASSIC TRIUMPH

Having won the 2023 Con & Annie Kirby Memorial, the 2023 Willwego.com Irish St. Leger and the 2024 Bresbet Easter Cup, Clonbrien Treaty was on the brink of a fourth Classic success and he wasn’t to be outdone. Maintaining a phenomenal gallop around the bottom two bends, the son of Pestana and Clonbrien Millie held his two length lead into the home straight and despite Miami King bridging the gap somewhat in the final twenty-five yards, Graham Holland’s charge emerged a comfortable winner crossing the line. Indeed, there were one and half lengths separating the duo, while Barefoot On Fire was a further one length back in third as he held on to deny the fast-finishing duo of Jaytee Craze and Coolavanny Otto. The time, as mentioned, was the fastest ever to be recorded in a St. Leger final as Clonbrien Treaty stopped the clock in 29.28.

Bringing his prizemoney tally to a scarcely believable €172,000 plus, this was a magnificent achievement from both greyhound and trainer and congratulations are extended to all connections on what was a memorable victory. Much appreciation is also extended to the continued support of Willwego.com, who have sponsored this event for the past two years.