Graham Holland lands fifth Laurels with less-fancied High Trend
Barney O'Hare, CEO of Bar One Racing Presents the Irish Greyhound Laurels Final Trophy to trainer Graham Holland and owners RTC Syndicate & Eugene Buckley after High Trend won at Curraheen Park in a time of 28.31.
Graham Holland was responsible for half the field in Saturday night’s final of the Irish Laurels at Curraheen Park and it was the outsider of the three, High Trend, who landed the spoils to give the Golden trainer a fifth win in the feature.
In fact, it was the three outsiders of the field who dominated from start to finish, with the two favourites, Jacktavern Bolt and Carrick Aldo, coming together at the first bend and never managing to get involved thereafter.
Role Model, the 22-1 outsider of the field, took a customary flying start and was in front going to the first turn, with High Trend, who broke well and headed over to the rails early, soon in pursuit.
Jacktavern Bolt broke quite well but stumbled slightly after just a couple of strides and his race was effectively over. Carrick Aldo missed the kick completely but showed terrific pace up before running into trouble.
Easy Razzle, who broke reasonably, was outpaced to the turn but tracked cleverly to avoid the trouble and soon found herself in second place.
Up front, the battle was on as High Trend went for a daring run along the inside of Role Model but it took the full length of the backstraight for him to poke his nose in front for the first time. No sooner had he taken that narrow advantage, but the powerful Easy Razzle was on his tail and looking like a real danger.
The next move, as they turned for home, proved pivotal as the challenger first went for a run down the inside, where the door was closed by the tight-railing High Trend. The bitch then swung wide moments later and produced a strong late charge, but High Trend stayed on stoutly to hit the line half a length to the good over Easy Razzle, in 28.31, with early leader Role Model two and a half lengths further back, clear of Jacktavern Bolt, Carrick Aldo and Glory Baz.
When Sevenheads Bay, owned locally by John O’Regan, gave Holland the first of his five wins in this competition, all the way back in 2009, it was the trainer’s first Classic winner. It has been a lucky venue for the Hollands, and Saturday night was further evidence as High Trend proved to be one leg of an 853-1 six-timer.
“It’s fantastic to win the race again,” said Holland. “You’ll probably never get it as good as the first one, but it’s great, as ever. It’s hard to put it into words, but it’s a family effort and thanks to everybody for their hard work at home. We all do it together as a team.”
Of High Trend, he added: “Cork is made for him – it’s his track. Once he gets on the fence, he stays at that one good pace and is very hard to get around. And he railed so nicely off that last bend, and always seems to get to the winning line.
“He won a nice race in Shelbourne before he got here, and was very unlucky in the Bar One Sprint, and I think that competition stood to him.”
