More good news for Linehan

BLARNEY trainer John Linehan enjoyed his best season as a trainer last year and 2012 has got off to a smashing start also.

Not alone did Broadstrand Lad set an impressive pace in the first round of the Tyrur McGuigan Open 575 at Shelbourne last week but on Monday his star bitch Droopys Twirl produced a litter of ten pups by Ace Hi Rumble.

John said: “We’re absolutely delighted, although we would obviously have preferred more dog pups. But you can’t complain about a litter of three dogs and seven bitches. Hopefully they will all survive”.

The bitch was whelped down by her breeder Michael Dunphy and it is likely that owner Kieran Ryan and Dunphy will retain all the pups.

Obviously, Linehan is delighted with the prospect of training pups out of the sensational Oaks winner but he is also looking forward to preparing Droopys Twirl for a defence of her Oaks title this year. “The plan is to bring her back and give her one real crack at the Oaks. There are a lot of good bitches around and a few more will appear between now and then but Twirl is young enough, she won’t be three years of age until well after the Oaks is over”.

Meanwhile, Broadstrand Lad is reported in top form for the second round of the Tyrur 575 on Saturday. “He came out of the race grand and he runs well when fresh. Originally we were thinking of holding him for the Easter Cup but with all the problems he has had we decided to let him run when he was in such good form and we will then probably put him by for the Easter Cup.”

Broadstrand, already the winner of another Tyrur Kennels 575 at Curraheen, is at home over the 575 yards trip where he can put his excellent early pace to best effect and he is also a strong stayer. But another Cork dog, the Eimear Coffey owned Tibetan Skies could be a major stumbling block on the evidence of his recent form at headquarters.

Both dogs have escaped each other in the second round draw and they can lead home their respective races, though Tibetan Skies will have his work cut out against Martinstown Snow. The other two heats can be won by Tyrur Monica and that very strong runner Royal Patrol.

Shelbourne is getting off to a flying start and the semi-finals of the Tyrur 575 on Saturday week will be run along with the first round of the Joe Dunne Memorial Puppy 525. This invariably proves to be a very reliable classic guide and there will be some talented young trackers among the entries when they close next Monday.

There is a prize of €7,500 for the winner of this 48 dog event confined to February ‘10 whelps or younger.

The first major event of the season at Curraheen will close to entries next Tuesday. The Guinness Trophy A1 525 is being run for the 48th time and the 36 dog event will have a winner’s prize of €3,000.

The stars of last year will be honoured on Saturday, January 28th and the various award winners are: Public Trainer — John Kiely; Private Trainer — Tom O’Neill; Owner — Helen Wadsworth; Greyhound of the Year — Paid Paddy. Well done to all involved. Mention of Paid Paddy reminds me that he was the winning-most greyhound in Ireland last year as he won fifteen races.

Paid Paddy is owned by Bobby Barrett and the son of Crash came out the top dog in the Irish rankings as he had more second placings that the Nioclas and Padraig Walsh owned Seaview Rosie. Paid Paddy has never raced outside Cork while, amazingly, Seaview Rosie has never raced outside Youghal!

Other news from Curraheen is that the Greyhound Store is up for renewal and application forms should be submitted to Liz Igoe by February 14th. The Track will have a stand in the Silver Springs Hotel this weekend for the Southern Brides Cork and Munster Wedding Show with loads of goodies to give away!

The build-up to the Clonmel Track Festival is already well underway, a clear sign that the National Meeting is getting very close. The main event, the Festival Open Unraced reaches the quarter final stage on Sunday evening. It has developed into the usual terrific competition and Declan Moloney still has a great say in it with all three of his litter comrades having made it into the final 24.

His fastest first round winner Pagani left his race in traps in the second round — one of many dogs on the night to break very slowly — but he can be expected to step up considerably on that running in the opening heat and he gets the vote to lead home Foxy Red and Confident Rankin.

Moloney also has prospects with Delonte and Nastasi in the next two heats while Jacobs Courage may have the superior early over Blackstone Buzz in the final heat.

By the way, Terry Corden has stepped in at the last minute to sponsor the Tynwald Open 790 which will be for 18 dogs with a winner’s prize of €1,425 and the heats will be run on January 26th. The Buddy Flannery A2 Puppy Stake has been deferred due to lack of entries and it will be run at a later date. However there is a very good entry for the Broadway Petfoods Bitch Stake which will commence on Sunday with the likes of Caretaker Jo, Beaming Olive, Cabra Millie and Droopys Indi the leading fancies.

The Suirview Kennels Festival of Racing kicks off at Waterford on Saturday. Sponsored by James Duggan and the Track Supporters Club, it comprises five 12-dog €1,000 to the winner stakes and the semi-finals of two of them will be run on Saturday with the other three — A2 525 (Bg); A4 525 (A3 Bg only); and A5 525 (A4 Bg only) — commencing on Saturday week and still open to entries.

All the tracks except Drumbo Park and Enniscorthy have now re-opened for racing after the Christmas break. Drumbo will stage its first meeting of 2012 this evening while Enniscorthy will resume on Thursday, January 26th.