Paddy powers home

THREE of the four major stakes at the Cork Coursing Club’s Christmas meeting at Blarney, Co. Cork, yesterday resulted in upsets.

The only final that worked out as expected was the Liam Burke Cork Cup, which was won in good style by Cuban Paddy.

In the final he came up against Run Like Baros, which injured a toe in the quarter final, and raced away to take the opening score by six lengths, the loser getting in for a point before the hare got home.

There was a major surprise in the Jack Ryan Memorial Cup final when Trumpers Lodge, which represented the Donoughmore Club, came from behind to take the honours against Farmers Phantom, trained by Barry Lynch and representing the Ballygarvan Club, by a length and a half. The runner-up was the overnight favourite.

In the Derby Trial Stake final the Donal Leahy trained Beyond A Joke was the outsider in the buckle. However, as in his earlier courses, he got smartly away from slips against the John Kiely trained Stonewall Jackson and led all the way for a two lengths success. Winning owner Tim O’Driscoll already has a qualifier and reserve for the Oaks at Clonmel.

Whiskey Soda finished strongly to get a length verdict over Primary Target in the Oaks Trial Stake decider.