Dowling closes in on 1,000

TRALEE Track’s premier event, the GMHD Juvenile Classic, got off to a terrific start on Friday night and the headline story is that the Kerry man with the golden touch on track and field, Liam Dowling, supplied three of the six first-round winners, including the two which clocked the fastest times of 28.62 and 28.67 on going which was rated .20 slow.

Furthermore, the man brought his tally of winners on IGB tracks to a massive 994, which, obviously, leaves him just six short of the magical 1,000 mark.

Liam was actually honoured on the night for his great victory in the Coursing Oaks at Clonmel with Ballymac Enya, as were the connections of Ahamore Wonder for his outstanding victory in the Kevin Smith Champion Stakes, but few could have predicted that Dowling would dominate the opening round of the juvenile classic the way he did.

Ballymac Syd was the first of his winners in heat 4 and he flew around in the aforementioned 28.67. One of three 6/4 joint favourites, Ballymac Syd flew out of trap 2 and he won by five lengths from the Chris Houlihan-trained Fast Hurling, with a similar distance back to the Jim Morrissey-trained Tiger Jack.

Fifteen minutes later, Dowling’s Cuore Di Ferro (5/2) bettered 28.67 by five spots and he, too, set himself up for victory with the best of starts from trap 3. He hit the line two and-a-half lengths ahead of 4/6 favourite, Burgess Bucks, with a length and-a-half back to Droopys Pension.

Yet another fifteen minutes later, Dowling completed his brilliant first-round treble with Ballymac Devon, a litter brother to Ballymac Syd. Bearing in mind the way things were going for Dowling, it was no surprise to see this fellow sent off the even-money favourite from a trap 6 draw and, although his time of 29.05 was well back on that recorded by both Cuore Di Ferro and Ballymac Syd, he still won by six and a half lengths from Paganini Show, with six lengths back to Stop That Jack.

Another litter brother, Darantula, also went through to the quarter-finals for Dowling after finishing second to the Kilkenny-owned Lambeth Walk in heat 2, with the winner excelling in clocking 28.69, and it is worth noting that Darantula, Ballymac Syd and Ballymac Devon are all out of Ballymac Razl, the dam of last year’s winner of the classic for Liam Dowling, namely Ballymac Bolger (the sire is Droopys Sydney).

The other first-round heat winners were Tullig Irish (29.08) and El Favor (29.12), which are trained by Pat Buckley and Peter Cronin, respectively, and, with four qualifying from all six first-round heats, it means four quarter-finals this Friday night.

Particularly worth watching will be the fourth quarter-final, which sees Cuore Di Ferro and Burgess Bucks renew rivalry. Worth the admission money alone, that re-match is.

Lambeth Walk has to be fancied to win the first quarter-final, while Ballymac Syd is impossible to oppose in the third quarter-final. Ballymac Devon and El Favor will be trying to stay unbeaten in the second quarter-final and preference is for Ballymac Devon.

The draw for the quarter-finals is (trap order): First quarter-final: Fast Hurling, Bythewayjack, Lambeth Walk, Toolmaker Daddy, Pennylane Fionn, Tullig Irish. Second quarter-final: Tiger Jack, Darantula, Ballymac Devon, El Favor, Droopys Pension, Glengar Nadal (M). Third quarter-final: Jacksonfire, Burgess Doc, Stopthatjack, Droopys Danny, Paganini Show, Ballymac Syd. Fourth quarter-final: El Diamond, Cuore Di Ferro, Burgess Bucks, Droopys Luke, Toolmaker Gringo, Rackethall Cain.

The supporting card on Friday night saw trainer, Maurice O’Connor, pull off a quickfire double by winning the tenth and eleventh races with Kit Commando (29.12) and Rattling Conor (29.25), while the other winners were: Shaunas Fury, 29.53; Spirit Sonia, 18.14; Rathronan Max, 17.87; March Seventeen, 29.18.

The going was .20 slow for all 525yds races and .10 slow for 325yds races.