Painter the one to beat in semis

IT’S down to the last twelve in the €9,000-to-the-winner Lee Strand A3 550 Sweepstake at Tralee, and after three rounds the Paul Hennessy-trained Barefoot Painter is still up there as the one to beat.

However, he is no longer standing out the way he was after the first round in particular, for the very good reason that he was only a single spot faster than the Meath-owned Kilmessan Gold (29.92 as against 29.93) at the quarter-final stage last Friday night...and another quarter-final winner, the Johnny O’Sullivan-trained Millroad McCoy, was only eight spots back on 30.00.

The remaining quarter-final winner, the locally-owned Days That Were, won in 30.34 and, the way this fellow is able to come from behind, he is far from out of it.

It’s pretty intriguing stuff at this stage and two marvellous semi-finals are in prospect this Friday night. As it so happens, Barefoot Painter and Kilmessan Gold have avoided each other and it will be a huge surprise if they don’t make it through to the final.

Kilmessan Gold does, however, have to contend with Millroad McCoy, while Barefoot Painter has Days That Were for opposition.

Barefoot Painter kept his terrific unbeaten record going in the second quarter-final. He was running from trap 3 and, although he was opposed by three other second-round winners, including the highly rated Ballyhooly Fin, it was pretty significant that he was sent off the 4/7 favourite.

Running from trap 3, he didn’t break in front, or anything like that, but he is able to produce a really powerful turn of pace when he gets into full flight and it enabled him to lead off the first bend from Misty Supreme and Ballyhooly Fin.

Misty Supreme, very much to his credit, contested well enough with Barefoot Painter on the back straight, with just two lengths separating the pair rounding the third bend, but, in the manner of a really good dog, Barefoot Painter extended that to seven lengths at the line in 29.92, with two lengths back to Ballyhooly Fin.

Kilmessan Gold produced his run of 29.93 in the fourth quarter-final . Installed the 2/1 favourite, he simply blew out of trap 4, as he had done in the previous round, and he dominated to the extent that he had six and a half lengths to spare at the line from Stormy Jake, with two and a half lengths back to Saleen Hunter.

The Liam Dowling-trained Green Duke, which ran from trap 2, badly lost his action rounding the first bend and, obviously seriously injured, he was unable to finish.

Turning to the victory of Millroad McCoy in the third quarter-final, he was sent off the even-money favourite from a trap 1 draw and, although he was left with plenty to do as the race progressed, he fairly motored from the third bend home and won by a length from the front-running Summerfield Sky in 30.00, with the same distance back to Typical Ash.

The second and third are trained in Athenry by Gerry Holian and everybody knows what that man is capable of achieving when the chips are down.

The remaining quarter-final winner, Days That Were (2/1 joint fav), ran from trap 6 in the first quarter-final and, although he largely avoided serious trouble rounding the first bend, he was still jolted a bit, costing him a couple of lengths surely, and it represented a very fine performance by him to come from nicely off the pace and get up on the line for a neck victory over Rathass Ward in 30.34, with two lengths back to Mohane Odie.

The focus now, of course, switches to the two semi-finals this Friday and particular interest will centre on Barefoot Painter. He runs from trap 2 in the second semi-final, which sees four wide seeds (including Days That Were) outside him, and he can undoubtedly win again.

In the first semi-final, Kilmessan Gold is in trap 4 for the third time running and his tremendous starting ability can see him score again, with Millwood McCoy likely to be the one to chase him home.

Intriguing stuff, for sure, but, irrespective of what happens in the semi-finals, we are going to have a line-up in the final that will do very adequate justice to the brilliant prize-money made possible by those great sponsors, Lee Strand.

The draw for the semi-finals is (trap order)

First semi-final: Mohane Odie, Ballyhooly Fin, Stormy Jake, Kilmessan Gold, Millroad McCoy, Saleen Hunter.

Second semi-final: Summerfield Sky, Barefoot Painter,Misty Supreme (W), Typical Ash (W), Days That Were (W), Rathass Ward (W).

On a night when some outstanding times were produced for the 525yds trip, the other winners were: Dromscarramedody, 18.09; Drinksonthehouse, 28.95; Portmageewiseguy, 18.24; Jeffs Sam, 29.37; Kahara Kev, 28.66; Unleashthebeast, 28.68; Feather Plucker, 29.30.