Farloe flies in, horror for Hennessy
A 5/4 chance (from evens), Mineola Farloe was fast away and quickly won the early battle for rails supremacy with Jesceda Lad.
He clocked a sectional a length and a half faster than in the previous round (3.33 compared to 3.43) as he eased clear of his rivals going into the bend.
He had gone three lengths clear by the second bend by which time the race was as good as over. The way he stretched further clear down the back was a joy to behold and he was in cruise control from the third bend as he glided home four and a half lengths clear of Jesceda Lad.
Mineola Farloe’s time of 28.15 was his second successive personal best and trainer Seamus Graham clearly has him in the form of his life.
Jesceda Lad (7/2) chased the winner in vain but comfortably held off the running on Boherduff Light (9/4 from 5/2) for second. The latter was slowly away from his wide draw and only fifth in to the bend. He qualified for the semi-finals comfortably enough but, while he has won from an outside draw previously, he does seem better suited by the inside.
Remarkably, trainer Paul Hennessy, who had eight quarter-finalists (one-third of the total), failed to get any through to the semi-finals!
Ballyquin House could only finish fourth in the opening quarter, but much worse was to follow for the Kilkenny trainer in the next heat.
Hennessy had three of the six runners here and, while his Goblet of Fire (4/5 from 4/6) broke in front, he wasn’t as fast to the bend as in the previous rounds. As a result there was precious little between the favourite, Broadacres McCoy Rock Hill and Farloe Pocket going into the bend.
Farloe Pocket was slowly away but then showed terrific pace to the turn. He drove a great bend - but he needed to as a fraction of a second after he cleared Goblet of Fire on the outside that one stumbled, hampering Broadacres McCoy and Kilford Kilkenny in turn with Blonde Thunder also taking a hit in the mayhem.
Following the shemozzle Farloe Pocket (5/2) quickly opened up an unassailable lead. Stephen Bourke’s runner came home nine and a half lengths clear of the rest in 28.40 with Rock Hill and Broadacres McCoy winning the other qualifying places.
Goblet of Fire (4/5 from 4/6) was in more trouble at the third bend and eventually finished last.
Mayhem at the opening bend also proved decisive in heat 3.
The consistently fast away Allen Pirate led up but he was clipped from behind by Hennessy’s Tyrur Ted at the opening bend. The ensuing trouble allowed Slippery Bill to take control and he had little difficulty in holding off kennel mate and litter brother Nikita Billie from halfway, eventually scoring by a length and a half in 28.66. The first and second are handled by Maurice O’Connor.
What was possibly the worst night in Hennessy’s training career was completed in heat four when he again had three of the six runners, including the first and second favourites but, again, they filled positions four, five and six.
Victory went to the Pat Buckley trained Cavecourt Jon. Fast away, he edged towards the middle of the track on the run-up but avoided trouble and after making the bend in front he shrugged off the challenge of Tourna Star between the last two bends for a three length success in 28.37.
: First semi-final: 1 Slippery Bill (12/1), 2 Mineola Farloe (4/6), 3 Jesceda Lad (11/2), 4 Farloe Pocket (11/2) (w), 5 Rhincrew Shergar (12/1) (w), 6 Chipp Lad (8/1) (w) Second semi-final: 1 Nikita Billie (4/1), 2 Boherduff Light (5/4); 3 Tourna Star (10/1), 4 Cavecourt Jon (4/1), 5 Rock Hill (10/1), 6 Broadacres McCoy (6/1) Cashmans outright betting: 7/4 Mineola Farloe, 3 Boherduff Light, 7 Farloe Pocket, 10 Nikita Billie, 12 Jesceda Lad, Cavecourt Jon, 20 Chipp Lad, 25 Rhincrew Shergar, Slippery Bill, Broadacres McCoy, 33 Tourna Star, Rock Hill.
