Mucky Donal continues on upward curve

MUCKY Donal, trained by James Kelleher for Don and Gerard Buckley, is a very promising youngster and he produced the performance of his fledgling career to win Saturday night’s final of the New Year A3 550 at Curraheen Park.

On a track that wasn’t running fast, he showed fine pace to take the lead from specialist early pacer Splendid Wish on the run to the turn and that setup a winning run. The April 2010 whelp moved a length and a half clear between the bends and he always looked in command as he maintained that advantage all the way to the line in 30.69.

The Michael Hallahan-trained Shannics Sparky, who was knocked out in the opening round, made the most of the opportunity awarded her when, brought back in as a reserve, she set the standard in the semi-finals of the Fermoy Print & Design A4.