The Kerryman (South Kerry Edition)
First win from eight starts for Tissle Topper
WHERE do they all come from? That is a question that one could repeatedly ask when benefit nights are held at Tralee Track, especially when rural communities are involved, and at the Oakview venue last Saturday night, one could only look on with a degree of astonishment at the crowd which turned up for a fund-raiser for Annascaul GAA Club.
It is quite something for a club to have a support base like this and, of course, the county is very lucky to have such a well-equipped venue to comfortably accommodate all those who attend – something that stands bigtime to the memory of the late Eileen Kelliher, of Castleisland, who played such an influential role in making the Oakview stadium happen when she was a member of Bord na gCon.
Racing-wise, some very good times were recorded on the night and none better than the 28.76 recorded by Tissle Topper in the ninth race (A3 525). This fellow won by seven and a half lengths and the surprising thing about it all was that it was just his first victory from eight starts.
Sweepstakes sponsored by the Kerry Greyhound Owners and Breeders Association dominated the programme and the Brendan Maunsell-trained Lithuanian Lila gave a lovely exhibition of tracking to win an A6 525 final by nine lengths in 28.87, while Lixnaw Squishy, owned by Kevin Gleeson, of Lixnaw, also ran away with an A8 final, winning by five lengths in 29.33.
Three first-round heats of an A5 525 sweepstake saw all winners get inside 29.00secs, with Hazelhill Tess on 28.95, Ballymac Notnow on 28.87 and Chespirito on 28.80, and it will be interesting to see how these times hold up in the semi-finals this Saturday night (four qualified from each heat).
An Anascaul GAA buster race, for S3 class over 325yds, saw Cashen Sammer win in 17.68 for Ballyduff’s Chris Houlihan, while the other winners were: Ballyfidora Hope, 17.72; Astra Moon, 29.25; Ashwood Barry, 29.06.