Shelbourne flooding compounds industry’s problems
My phones were ringing non-stop through the day with RTE Radio and many of the newspapers seeking “leads” on the story. Some of these papers were later actually following up on the Radio follow-up to the story which initially appeared in this paper. It was somewhat akin to a dog trying to grab its own tail!
The callers were full of unofficial theories, many with absolutely no knowledge whatever of the problems at the track which were caused by burst pipes at the end of the freeze-up. God only knows what concocted stories we are going to read and hear in the coming days — it will probably even end up on Whineline (Liveline to the uninitiated).
Seriously, though, the incident is a serious blow for the industry and compounds the problems caused by the serious loss of racing due to the snow and frost since the end of November. It has been worst spell for Irish greyhound sport in history and we all have fingers crossed that racing can resume — even with limited facilities for the time being — at the earliest opportunity.
The first round of the Tyrur McGuigan Open 575 — formerly the John J Casey 575 — is due to be run on Saturday week and this event would give the early season schedule a real lift. Hopefully that meeting can go ahead without any problem.
Meanwhile, the season has a real launching pad tomorrow night with three major finals down for decision. At Harold’s Cross the programme will include the finals of the Ted Hegarty Marathon and the Tote Gold Collar while the Tralee card will feature the final of the Greyhound & Petworld Kingdom Derby.
Both these cards were postponed from Christmas week and their timing tomorrow could hardly be more appropriate as the industry is in serious need of a boost. Big crowds are anticipated at both venues with some genuinely high class racing in prospect.
Most valuable of the three is the Kingdom Derby with a €10,000 prize for the winner and a supporting card with eleven further finals, all thanks to the Abbeyfeale company Greyhound & Petworld. The one to beat in the big final is Calling Spice, which is trained by Graham Holland for Mallow’s Pat O’Donovan. This is a brilliant early paced bitch and should get first run on the field.
But Bling Bling Buzz, which Owen McKenna trains for Clare owner Aine Quigney, is ideally drawn in one and has a fastest time of 28.24 in the event. Willie Barry’s Movealong Tony, Liam Dowling’s duo of General Dogsbody and Ballymac Linda and the Marius Kybartas trained Paddy The Pricer complete a quality field.
The Ted Hegarty Marathon is a very special and unique competition in Irish racing and we have one of the best quality fields ever in the event. But I will reduce it to the big two of Sean Devlin’s Seven Hills Lady and Derek Kehoe’s Slaneyside Havoc. All the indications are that there will be precious little between them all the way and the Devlin runner gets the narrow vote to take the prize of €9,000.
The break will be vital in the final of the Tote Gold Collar and if the Liam O’Rourke trained Ballymac Tipp can make one of his best starts then he will take some catching. Tommy O’Donovan’s Wise Signal and Dolores Ruth’s Razldazlbroadway will be rattling home but Ballymac may be uncatchable.
Curraheen Park resumes full activity this week with the normal racing schedule and hopefully a very rewarding year lies ahead for everybody involved with the track. Entries close today for a 12 dog €600 (Bg) A5 525 and then on Tuesday next for a 24 dog €1,200 Hello France A2 (Bg) 525.
There will be five Sales at the track this year with the opening one on Tuesday, February 15th. Entries are now being accepted. The other Sales dates during 2011 are Tuesdays, April 19th, June 21st, September 20th and November 15th.
There will be huge interest in the Open Unraced Stake which commences at Clonmel on Sunday with a number of well bred and highly qualified youngsters in the line-up. Looking at the draw I suspect that the final two heats could involve a few of the big guns.
In Heat 7 we have the likes of Michael Dunphy’s Droopys Cormac (Killahan Phanter/ Droopys Seville), Terry Corden’s Yahoo Ned (Droopys Maldini/ Dees Dream) and Matt O’Donnell’s The Other Bailey (Skywalker Ace/ The Other Lucky) — all boasting nice trial form. Then in the concluding heat the likes of Graham Holland’s Magellan Lad (Droopy Maldini/ Rough Venus), Sean Meade’s Paradise Siesta (Head Bound/ Paradise Alanna) and Michael Dalton’s Express Shuttle (Kiowa Sweet Trey/ Express Mist) all looks pretty useful. We are in for a few very interesting weeks down Clonmel way.
