History made as morning breaks in Tralee

IT was history in the making at Tralee Track last weekend when the first ever Saturday morning meeting in this country was run off – for the benefit, through SIS, of betting offices in Ireland and the UK.

It was a quick return to action after all the excitement of the GMHD juvenile classic the night before (the first race was at 9.11am) and increased prizemoney certainly made it worthwhile for all winning connections.

A fair bit of the inside field area was covered in water, after prolonged rain, and there was one blip when the fourth race was declared void after a malfunction with the traps.

But this venture, even if free entry didn’t entice that many spectators, is going down well with owners and trainers. And why wouldn’t it, with prizemoney for the 525yds races ranging from €300 to €355 and the one sprint on the eight-race card worth €218 to the winner!

The going, by the way, was .25 slow for 325yds and .50 slow for 525yds, which underlined just how bad underfoot conditions were, and the winners were: Millridge Magic, 29.73; Lispole Vinnie, 29.77; Silver Charm, 29.85; Silver Bullet, 18.08; Sleamhain Leat, 29.53; Scart Honey, 30.25; Southern Spark, 29.80.

There was another very quick return to action on Saturday night when the going was nothing like as slow as in the morning (just .10 slow for two early sprints and .20 slow for two early 525yds races, with the going rated as normal for the rest of the programme).

Fastest over the 525yds trip was Spruce Dude, which clocked 29.18 in the sixth race (A6 525) for Master Ruairi Bourke, of Castleisland. Running from trap 6 and sent off the 6/4 favourite, this wide seed simply blitzed the opposition on the run to the first bend and he sailed home six lengths ahead of Rathanny Tina to impressively follow up another convincing victory in novice company first time out.

There was a sizzling run of 17.68 over 325yds by Straight Bullet, while the Sean Dowling-trained Hakamaraka clocked 31.30 for the 570yds trip.

Other winners: Kilcow Amy, 18.17; Ardfhearta Costa, 29.71; Bville Bridge, 18.49; Teemore Duke, 30.32; My Right Ear, 18.03; Restless Dream, 29.53; Newinn Exception, 29.25.