Guinness Trophy not for sale, but there may yet be a happy ending
Yesterday afternoon I received an update from the businessman involved and, while the outcome was not as desired, it wasn’t without hope.
Having spoken to the owners, he was informed the trophy was not for sale but that the potential remained for it to return to Curraheen in the future through the possibility of renewed sponsorship. We’re unlikely to see in back at the track in the immediate future but hopefully the relationship with Guinness can be restored in the coming years.
In December I wrote about the ‘rolling’ Pick 6 which was introduced as something of a novelty bet, which would start in one track and, on a continuous cycle, moves between tracks, carrying over the pool when not won.
While I’ve heard little about the jackpot in terms of promotion of the bet – certainly an issue with tracks which haven’t had any jackpot pools for a very long time –recent signs have offered encouragement it could yet take off.
Last Monday night, at Youghal, there was a significant carryover from the previous few nights and thus the bet attracted quite a bit of interest. With the carryover and the additional money played on the night, the pool was in excess of é3,500 before the start of the first leg.
Two units survived to the penultimate leg but Odell Rossetta scuppered the last chance of it being won on the night. It rolled on to Harold’s Cross on Tuesday night and again wasn’t won and so, with Kilkenny not returning on Wednesday nights for another fortnight (confirmed for February 24), it rolls on to Shelbourne Park tonight.
For a small track like Youghal the amount of money put into the pool on Monday was substantial, relative to Tote activity at the track on a quiet evening, and that can only be a good thing. There is certainly an increasing interest in the bet and were it promoted better at all tracks, it could prove a real success.
It’s a particularly good opportunity for Youghal and Mullingar (Tralee isn’t one of the jackpot pool’s stops in its six-track cycle) as they will be shown live on SIS every Monday night and Sunday afternoon respectively. The fact you can place a Pick 6 bet on the Barking Buzz app should help to sell the bet to a wider audience, which can watch their progress in betting shops, if not on the IGB website or the app itself.
I’ll be watching on with interest to see how this is promoted over the coming weeks. As with all products, there is a finite time in which to promote them, before they end up costing too much and must be shelved.
Regarding SIS, on Tuesday night it broadcast live pictures from Tralee track into the betting shops and, while there still hasn’t been an official statement from the Greyhound Board, that, we can assume, was the start of the contract between SIS and the IGB.
Full details will be forthcoming, but expected to be amongst the details when finalist is é20 for each greyhound which finishes out of the frame. While modest, it is a boost, particularly for owner-trained greyhounds.
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A text message alerted me to an apparent ‘good thing’ running in a race in Henlow on Sunday night. While I spend virtually no time looking at such meetings, it didn’t take long to realise why this might indeed be a good bet.
This was an open maiden, for greyhounds which had not won in open company in Britain, and looking through the remainder of the field there wasn’t an obvious star amongst them.
I was familiar with Knockraha Jet, who had winning form in Youghal and reached A1 grade at Curraheen Park, while Inslips Icon started off in Limerick, and had tried his hand over six bends before twice being successful over 600 yards, in A3 grade.
Ceric Collier brought modest graded form from Peterborough, while Mahoonagh Sid, with Tralee and Limerick form, hadn’t set the world alight in Henlow or Mildenhall. Decoy Savings was similarly unconvincing, boasting just one win, recorded in A3 grade.
That just left Allen Wizard, who many of you will remember was heavily backed to land the Irish Derby Plate final at Shelbourne Park in September. He made no impact there, but had recorded 29.65 and 29.83 victories in the heats, over 550 yards. On his next start after the Plate final, he finished a five-length runner-up to 28.21 winner Jaytee Valencia over 525 yards also at Shelbourne.
A lot can happen in a few months but he’s not an old dog (February ’13) and there was every reason to believe he could prove he was thrown in. For those of us who chose not to back him, it was a missed opportunity as his class shone through with a four-length victory.
Had that race been run in Ireland, he wouldn’t have been the colour of his starting price of 4-5, let alone the 11-8 which was available throughout the day. Just a peculiarity of the British ‘maiden’ system, I suppose.
