Irish Cup another odds-on winner
It’s one of coursing’s majors and, thanks to the on-going generous sponsorship of Limerick’s own JP McManus it has the biggest purse, with €80,000 going to the winner, €24,000 to the runner-up, major money also for those beaten in the semi-finals and quarter-finals.
Coming so soon after the National Coursing Meeting in Clonmel, however, which this year was another hugely successful affair, day one in Patrickswell can feel a little anti-climactic and yesterday, though there were several hundred in attendance and locked into the action on the field, the voices of the short-odds men carried clearly all around the stand.
“Take six to four the red, take six to four the red!”, shouted Edward Donnelly in his distinctive throaty roar, an offer restated over and over before the two dogs – one in red collar, one in white – are released, but an offer mockingly repeated by the young kids now running around on the viewing balcony; “Take six to four the red!” they shouted, in echoed unison, much to the amusement of many now in the stands, “Take six to four the red!”, laughing - in the way we all did - at their own innocent wit.
For Edward, however, for all the other oddsmakers who depend on days like this for a living, it’s no joke. Even as the nation was going to the polls to elect a new government, the new economic reality has already hit, and hit hard. “I normally work the long odds, would have a board in the betting ring,” Edward explains, “But I'm not doing that this year, staying with the short-odds.”
The short-odds callers have a corner of the stand to themselves, a most colourful group, and lay on every ‘course’ (32 on day one of the Irish Cup alone), as opposed to the overall outcome. “It’s basically just to win a course, one against one. The long odds is more lucrative in the long run - this is more immediate, fast and furious. Everyone has their own opinion, on every course, and that’s what keeps us going. But even in the short-odds - at one time it was very busy but not anymore.”
As to what a man can win in a day, well, that’s akin to asking a lady her age – not done! “Results came against me this morning, lost a few pound, but not a whole lot,” is all Edward will allow, “But you do need to know what you’re doing or you can become very poor very fast.”
On the field too it’s taking a while to crank up. If you wanted stadium-type coursing, the first two courses were damn near perfect; faultless estimation by slipper Richie Quinn, strong-running hare, one turn near the top of the field, quick escape, clear winner.
Even in these near-clinical conditions, however, this is still coursing, only so much that can be controlled; soon, the most unpredictable variable of all began to impact – the hare. Breaking this way and that long before the dogs got to them, they turned a few courses on their heads.
One of the beneficiaries was 95-year-old Brian Tansey, a winner here four years ago after over 40 years of trying. “It was the most wonderful day I ever had in my life, for the simple reason that on the same day I was informed that I was also the Coursing Personality of the Year!,” said Brian, “But I was lucky there, wasn’t I?”. Indeed he was, his nomination, Likely Treble, sighting the wayward hare at the top of the field and taking the flag.
The beneficiary of an ‘unlikely treble’ over the last three weeks, however, is Meelin’s Elaine Guiney. “Class Attraction won the Champion Stakes in Clonmel, Meelin won the All-Ireland club junior hurling title, then last weekend we won five senior titles in the County Scór with Rockchapel, where my father is from, and won best club in the county.”
There’s time for Elaine to cap all that success with another win this weekend, by Class Attraction in the Bitch Stakes; there’s time also for this Irish Cup to take off, and with so many quality dogs still standing, it surely will. If you’re one of those who always wondered what all the fuss was about, you could do worse than take a wander out to Patrickswell.
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