PLENTY OF QUALITY ON SHOW AS LIMERICK HAND OUT LEGER TICKETS

Peter Farrell

With the 1xBet Irish St. Leger 550 less than two weeks away at Limerick Greyhound Stadium, the Munster venue hosted a number of trial stakes on Saturday night, while there were also some quality performances on the undercard.

It didn’t take long for the first quality performance to arrive as, in race three, the O’Callaghan Waste Management AO 550, Roscomroe Rocky produced a dominant display for Denis Higgins. Sent off at odds of 7/2, ‘Rocky’ was quickly into stride from trap four and, after disputing with both Whizzing Annie and Aussie Reward on the run-up, duly shot through the middle of runners to take a three-length lead into the back straight. From there, the gap only increased for the son of Orchestrate - Highview Moment as he drew clear to cross the line four and a half lengths ahead of the dead-heating pair of Whizzing Annie and Aussie Reward. The time was a swift 29.86.

In race four, the Doherty Centra Open 525, Canavour Bucko returned to his brilliant best with a devastating performance to win by ten and a half lengths. The Pat O’Connell-trained charge, jointly owned by John and Mark Lyons, was making his first competitive appearance in a number of months but showed no signs of race rust, taking charge at the halfway mark before romping clear to justify his 7/2 starting price. Crossing the line with a commanding advantage over Petulance in second, the time was a blistering 28.27.

Droopys Winsome booked his Leger ticket with a fine performance in the Lees Group Open 550. Trained by Murt Leahy for John Coleman, the 9/4 chance was slowly into stride from trap two but remained close to the pace entering the back straight behind both Boardofpeace and Blastoff Heffo. Showing tremendous speed down the back, the son of Pestana - Droopys Onestop quickly hit the front entering the penultimate bend and, from there, stayed on in his customary strong fashion to cross the line one length clear of Blastoff Heffo in second. The time was a smart 29.71.

Race six also offered a trial stake opportunity, duly landed by Coolemount Shine for Gary Pepper and Paraic Campion. An October son of Orchestrate - Highview Willow, ‘Shine’ disputed the early running with Ballinabola Bale before shooting up the inside to take charge at the opener. Holding a narrow advantage down the back, ‘Bale’ renewed his challenge before being forced to check at the penultimate bend. As a result, Coolemount Shine (4/1) was left clear and duly crossed the line two lengths ahead of the fast-finishing Company Man in second. The time was 30.14.

Hollywell Merlin has become something of a winning machine around Galway and he made the trip to Limerick for the A1 trial stake in race seven. Owned by Alison Coxon, the 3/1 chance continued his excellent run of form, taking charge early on before securing his ticket into the Classic in fine style. Drawn in six, the son of Ballymac Bolger didn’t break particularly fluently but showed brilliant early pace to establish a clear lead into the back straight. Kevinsfort Trump gave chase in second and did manage to close the gap on the Limerick hill, however, Coxon’s runner was never seriously threatened as he crossed the line with two lengths to spare in 29.95. Incidentally, that victory sealed a double on the night for the kennel as Hollywell Raven also landed a maide win in the curtain raiser, coming home one and a half lengths clear of Cragmoher Ollie, in 29.28.

Corcass Major was next to book his ticket for owner Michael Murphy at odds of 4/1. Another to show electric early speed to recover from a tardy start, the son of Newinn Taylor - Clonbrien Legend established a sizeable lead into the back straight and never looked back thereafter, comfortably holding Gortkelly Pixie by three and a half lengths in 30.37.

Away from the trial stake action, there was another rapid victory for My Old Friend in the penultimate contest. Installed at generous odds of 4/1, Ned Fogarty’s runner was chasing a seventh career success and set her stall out early with a flying start from trap four, clocking a sizzling 1.25 sectional in the process. As a result, the daughter of Tommy Shelby - Magnetism was never in danger of being reeled in as she effectively enjoyed a solo thereafter, crossing the line six and a half lengths clear of Code Four in a brilliant 28.50.

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