LEMON ADDS SOME ZEST TO KASKO SEMIS

Peter Farrell

While the semi-finals of the Kasko Dog Feeds ON2/ON3 525 may have been missing two of the stars from the opening round, it took little away from two brilliant performances in the famous novice stake at Thurles on Saturday night.

In the opening semi-final, Lemon Mal produced an exhibition for owner Tom Lennon, putting his debut defeat firmly in the rear-view mirror. The contest also featured impressive opening-round scorer Zaconey Montana, but Lemon Mal wasn’t to be outdone on the night, posting some eye-catching figures in the process.

Drawn in two, the February son of Malachi - Lemon Bernie broke much better this time around to dispute with both Supa Henry and Zaconey Montana on the run-up. It was Supa Henry who took charge entering the back straight, however, Lemon Mal quickly shot to the front at the halfway mark, followed by the eye-catching Zaconey Montana, who was also making rapid headway approaching the penultimate bend. Once Lemon Mal hit the front, his strong-running abilities came to the fore. Upping the ante on the Thurles hill, Lennon’s charge flew home to record a three-length victory over Zaconey Montana, who lost little in defeat in second. The time was a rapid 28.93 .40s, underlining the quality of the performance.

In the second semi-final, Tromora Bingo also shed his maiden tag for Noel Hehir, putting a line through his seventeen-length defeat just seven days earlier. Drawn in six, ‘Bingo’ was only moderately into stride but showed good early speed out wide to follow Da Lucky Lad into the back straight. Despite having a three-length deficit to bridge, the son of Dorotas Wildcat - Tromora Champion breezed alongside his rival within a matter of strides before quickly hitting the front approaching the penultimate bend. Never under threat thereafter, the classy March pup stormed home to record a four-and-a-half-length victory over Da Lucky Lad in second. The time was 29.22 .40s.