Fermoyle Trump delivers at the right time for Sugrue
NO matter what level you are talking about, the time to perform in a sweepstake is always when it comes to the final and Fermoyle Trump certainly proved that for John Sugrue, of Cahersiveen, at Tralee Track last Friday night.
The sweepstake in question was for A4 class over the standard trip and it carried a winner’s purse of €1,250 thanks to sponsorship provided by the track supporters’ club. Fermoyle Trump had never finished better than third in the qualifying heats and it was no surprise to see him at 5/1 in the betting market, with favouritism being shared at 6/4 by the two semi-final winners, Carmac Luna and Homestead Vicky.
The best breaks were achieved by Fermoyle Bolt from trap 4 and by another 5/1 outsider, Dog Gone It, from trap 3 and Fermoyle Trump proceeded to establish clear superiority on the back straight. Carmac Luna, which missed the break from trap 1, did move into second place rounding the third bend, but she was five lengths adrift of Fermoyle Trump at this stage and, although she ran on very strongly, she was never going to collar John Sugrue’s charge and finished a length and a half adrift of him in 29.16, with four lengths back to Dog Gone It.
It was actually a first win from five starts for Fermoyle Trump and the January ’16 son of Kinloch Brae and Hollys Secret certainly picked a good night to produce a career best performance.
Mind you, the winning time of 29.16, good and all as it was, was put somewhat in the shade by two greyhounds running in better class races. Black Agenda, winner of the €2,250 Speedrite Dogfood Rose Of Tralee Sweepstake back in mid-August, clocked a quite magnificent 28.56 in the eighth race (A1 525) and the Brendan Maunsell-trained Floury Spuds followed up with another superb run of 28.58 in the tenth race (A2 525), to initiate a quickfire double for Maunsell (he won the 11th race in 29.13 with Drinks on the house, a litter brother to Floury Spuds).
Black Agenda, a 2/1 joint favourite running from trap 4, dominated to the extent that he had ten and a half lengths to spare at the line from Costa Volcan, with first-bend trouble killing the chances of Maria Rita, Saleen Anna and Dramatic Rosie in particular.
Interestingly, Black Agenda had clocked 28.77 for Brendan Begley, of Knocknagoshel, when winning the Rose of Tralee final and it was quite something by him to rise three grades and win the way he did in a time which was 21 spots faster – the exact equivalent of three lengths.
In relation to Floury Spuds, he was back in grade to A2 class after competing in open company and, while it is very easy to be wise after the event, he did look particularly good value at 6/4. Mind you, he broke at the rear of the field from trap 6, but he showed a lot of power in asserting authority as the race progressed and he won by three lengths from the front-running Millridge Puzzle.
The night’s programme also featured two semi-finals of a supporters’ club A3 525 sweepstake (winner, €1,500) and the winners were Millwood Apollo (29.21) and Mileheight Molly (29.01). The latter prevailed by just a short head from Darragh Jet in the second semi-final and the strong likelihood is that these two will fill the first two places in the final this Friday night.
In winning the first semi-final and gaining his first win from ten starts, Millwood Apollo sprang a 6/1 surprise, but there was certainly no element of fluke about it. He took a flier from trap 4 and was actually six lengths in front rounding the third bend before hitting the line four and a half lengths ahead of Boxer Miley. The two 6/4 joint favourites, Razmataz Baresi and Nina Tashadelek, found themselves in trouble and failed to qualify for the final.
In all, there were twelve races, influenced by the fact that there was no racing on Saturday night, and the other winners were: Maum Ranger, 17.96; Bowline Sienna, 29.60; Sarasota Joker, 29.00; Pretty Éilish, 29.05; Cashcube Lady, 17.80; Scart Brandy, 29.24.