Another tough night for St Leger punters
Hottest favourite of the night was Bar The Devil in the opening heat as he went off at 4-5 but a tricky draw in the strips proved his undoing.
He duly experienced a terrible passage and in the end did well to qualify for the semi-finals. PJ Fahy’s Tyrur Rocky hit the front on the second bend and drew right away to win by five lengths from More Bale in 29.55 with Bar The Devil finishing strongly to be just a short head back in third.
New track record holder Hondo Dingle also faced an horrendous draw in Heat 2 and he too found plenty of traffic problems. Here Aidan Tynan’s Jaime Top Note, an 8-1 outsider, shot ahead on the second bend and won by three and a half lengths from the staying on Hondo Dingle in 29.68, with Eye King just a head back in third.
Youllhavetogo was an absentee from the third heat where his kennel companion Lughill Jo led them home. Owen McKenna’s charge took it up from Tallinn on the opening bend and drew clear to win by five lengths and a length and a half from Tallinn and Skywalker Duke.
The fourth heat was another five-dog affair in the absence of Dramatic Win and Droopys Deco went off favourite. But he never got in a blow as the Michael Downes trained Rockingham led all to win by two and a half lengths from Tyrur Brett in 29.57 with Monsoon Jack claiming the third qualifying spot.
Draw for Saturday’s semi-finals
Heat 1: 1 More Bale; 2 Tyrur Brett; 3 Monsoon Jack; 4 Lughill Jo; 5 Eye King; 6 Jaime Top Note (m).
Heat 2: 1 Tallinn; 2 Tyrur Rocky; 3 Rockingham; 4 Bar The Devil; 5 Hondo Dingle; 6 Skywalker Duke.
Meanwhile Pat Buckley continued on his winning ways on Friday evening when Droopys Kuyt duly landed the odds in the final of the €10,000 Lee Strand 550 at Tralee.
Unbeaten to the final, the September ’05 son of World Class and Droopys Roberta had to display courage and durability to land the prestigious final.
It was a rough and tumble race and Droopys Kuyt appeared to have lost his chance when in the wars at the third bend. But Adrian Kelly’s dog came again up the straight and snatched a neck verdict over Bellewood Westy in 30.17, with Tailteann Joe a length back in third.
