Three finals on Thursday card
Karlow Eddie starts as hot favourite for the main race
THREE FINALS will feature on this Thursday night’s card at Enniscorthy Greyhound Track, and some excellent racing is expected.
The final of the Horse and Hound Tri Distance carries a nice €3,000 first prize and looks a one-dog race on the evidence of Karlow Eddie’s last few runs, especially on his semi-final performance.
On that occasion he raced right away from his field to come home eleven lengths clear in a very fast 29.80 (550) for his owner, Henry Kelly, Co. Carlow.
He will start hot favourite for the final. However, he has drawn the tricky trap five this week and the final is over the 600 yards trip.
He will be tackling this trip for the first time and with what looked like his biggest rival, Enable, also not well drawn in trap six, this final may have a twist.
However, Karlow, if getting away well at all, is the one to beat. Kelly has runners in all three finals as he handles Karlow Crean in the final of the BoyleSports Irish Derby trial stake, while his Karlow Rocket lines up in the Ballinabola stake final. The way his charges are running in recent times, anything is possible.
Last Thursday’s feature race, the final of the Vimmerby at Stud stake, saw a good performance from the Nick Turner-trained Shakespeare, owned by Eoghan Ruttledge, Wexford.
Shakespeare made his good early pace tell to overcome the tricky draw (trap five) and led around the opening bends before running out a snug winner in the end in a useful 29.12.
Nick also made the long and successful trip up to Dundalk with Our Boy Junior who scored a nice win in heat eight of the sprinters’ classic, the Bar One Irish Cup.
There is another Wexford challenger in the shape of Broadstrand Kiwi, handled by Eamonn Moore, after winning his first round heat. He was narrowly beaten in a very fast time in his next heat, and both will line-up in this week’s quarter-fi- nals with strong claims.
Unfortunately, John Doyle’s Kiltrea Brian did not have any luck in his semi-final of the Corn Cuchulainn, but he certainly put in a powerful effort through the stake.
No doubt he will be back to challenge for more big stayers’ prizes in the coming months.
Here are the trap draws for this Thursday night’s feature races -
Race one, The Ballinaboola Sweepstake final (525 yards flat, A3): trap one, Falcon Blitz; trap two, Karlow Rocket; trap three, Ketch Up Snoopy; trap four, Vimmer Tom; trap five, Oxtail Oscar; trap six, Sheilas Machine.
Race two, 2018 BoyleSports Irish Greyhound DTS final (550 yards flat): trap one, Kingsmill Sprite; trap two, Ballinaboola Theo; trap three, Notorious Nodrog; trap four, Flying Lola; trap five, Backdoor Pete; trap six, Karlow Crean.
Race three, The Horse and Hound Tridistance Sweepstake final (600 yards flat, A2): trap one, Soul; trap two, Tycoon Prince; trap three, Tycoon Rita; trap four, Mottee Molloy; trap five, Karlow Eddie; trap six, Enable.
July 23 results - race one, The Welcome to the Show Grounds Stakes: 1, Rockmount Maid (owner, Carol O’Connor, Rockmount, Ferns; trainer, Brendan Murphy), 30.04; 2, Pontypandypenny, 30.09.
Race two, The Loch Garman A4 525 Stakes: 1, Ballyhi Sky (owner, Michael Furlong, Enniscorthy), 29.44; 2m, Boderan Daisy, 29.47.
Race three, The Model County 525 Stakes: 1, Baby Alice (owner, Graham O’Connor, Enniscorthy), 29.38; 2, Chloes Delight, 29.73.
Race four, The Track Bar 525 Stakes: 1, Spaceem Sand (owners, The Howya Buddy syndicate, Enniscorthy; trainer, David Morris, Enniscorthy), 29.40; 2, Tinahely Anni, 29.89.
Race five, The Monbeg Unraced Bitch Sweepstake semi-final: 1, Droopys Chimes (owners, Emma and Pauline Buckley; trainer, Pat Buckley), 28.79; 2, Dream Fairy, 29.14.
Race six, The Track Side Diner Sprint Stakes: 1, Stripe Jacko (owner, Ned Freeman, Co. Kilkenny), 18.94; 2, Danielles Vic, 19.39.
Race seven, The Monbeg Unraced Bitch Sweepstake semi-final: 1, Pearls Direction (owner, Laura Kennedy, Thurles, Co. Tipperary), 28.92; 2, Fagans Sparrow, 29.44.
Race eight, The Market Square 525 Stakes: 1, Karlow Mike (owners, WKC syndicate, Co. Carlow), 29.22; 2, Go Ellie Go, 29.23.
Race nine, The Slán Abhaile 575 Stakes: 1, Bisto Majestic (owner, Liam Kavanagh, Enniscorthy), 31.56; 2, Kiltrea Shay, 32.12.
July 26 results - race one, The Welcome to The Show Grounds Stakes: 1, Slaneyside Mabel (owner, Derek Kehoe, Thurles, Co. Tipperary), 29.41; 2, Howya Buddy, 29.83.
Race two, The Track Diner 575 Stakes: 1, Kiltrea Ellie (owner, John Doyle, Kiltrea, Enniscorthy), 31.96; 2, Tomahurra Skye, 32.17.
Race three, The Ballinaboola Sweepstake semi-final: 1, Oxtail Oscar (owner, James Whelan, Co. Wicklow), 29.00; 2, Vimmer Tom, 29.28.
Race four, The Ballinaboola Sweepstake semi-final: 1, Falcon Blitz (owners, Murt Minnion’s syndicate; trainer, John Kavanagh, Enniscorthy), 29.43; 2, Sheilas Machine, 29.48.
Race five, The Vimmerby @ Stud Sweepstake final: 1, Shakespeare (owner, Eoghan Ruttledge, Wexford; trainer, Nick Turner, Barntown), 29.12; 2, Ballybreen King, 29.26.
Race six, The Horse and Hound Tridistance Sweepstake semi-final: 1, Karlow Eddie (owner, Henry Kelly, Co. Carlow), 29.80; 2, Tycoon Prince, 30.57.
Race seven, The Horse and Hound Tridistance Sweepstake semi-final: 1, Mottee Molly (owners, Oliver and Michael Lott, Co. Wicklow), 30.15; 2, Enable, 30.22.
Race eight, 2018 BoyleSports Irish Greyhound DTS semi-final: 1, Ballinaboola Theo (owner, Niamh Murphy, Ballinaboola), 30.15; 2, Notorious Nodrog, 30.29.
Race nine, 2018 BoyleSports Irish Greyhound DTS semi-final: 1, Karlow Crean (owners, WKC syndicate, Co. Carlow), 30.25; 2, Flying Lola, 30.56.