Allowdale Boss and Young fella thanks win Novice semi-finals

THE semi-finals of the O’Neills Dogfood Novice Sweepstake (Grade N1/N2) were the main attraction on Saturday’s 10 race programme. Drawn in trap 1, Allowdale Boss displayed a terrific turn of early pace to assert his authority on the second of those semi-finals to post a winning time of 29.10. The winner, owned by Aine McCarthy-Roche held the advantage throughout however he just held off a late flourish by Pretty Eilish to secure top spot by ½ length.

The second semi-final saw a late flourish prove fruitful for the James O’Donnell trained Youngfellathanks. The youngster moved wide on the run down to the opening bend but he made ground on leaders down the back straight and was right in the mix off the third bend. He powered past the even money favourite Ascot Rocky close to the line to claim victory by in a length in 29.62. The final which takes place on Friday night’s card looks an intriguing prospect with a slight preference given to Allowdale Boss to maintain his 100% record.

Cashen Flo posted the quickest time of the night for the standard trip in Race 10. The winner broke well from trap 6, and while led to the opening bend by Helenas Joker, Cashen Flo eased to the front off the second bend and controlled the race to the line to stop the clock in 29.07.

The opening race on the card was a sprint contest for Grade S7, and the early paced Leicester I Am made his maiden outing a successful one to record an 11 length success for David Quirke. The winning time was 17.69.

Other winners on the night were Prinnycruising 29.41, Gallurus Lisrona 29.44, Dog Gone It 17.93, Slipalong Cindy 30.41, Sign On Tiger 17.71 and Boxer Miley 29.41.

There were a number of very impressive performances on Saturday morning card with 3 winners dipping under the 29 second barrier. Lenamore Zulu took the opening race in 28.97, while Breton Charlie posted 28.75 to land the fifth race by 1 ½ lengths from 6/4 favourite Lassa Excitement. Ashwood Party took the penultimate contest in 28.75.

Other winners were Maries Song 29.10, Tims pearl 29.06, Millridge Zephyr 29.13 and Steeple Rd Swift 29.15.