Toker claims major prize

IT WAS a fruitful time on and off the track for Co. Wexford greyhound men Philip Lynch and Tommy Woods.

In Curraheen Park (Cork), the final of the €10,000 Riverside Oscar open saw two Wexford runners in the line-up.

Toker Forest flashed out of trap four for Philip Lynch and made the bend from his fellow Wexford runner, Fast Fit Alex, who was in hot pursuit down the back stretch, while Coolavanny Pet made a big challenge approaching the third bend.

Turning for the judge, all three runners were making a bold bid to secure this prestigious prize, and Toker dug deep to hold Coolavany and Fast Fix in a driving finish that had the crowd on their feet in a superb time of 28.11.

Toker went through the stake unbeaten and it was a fine training performance by Philip Lynch from Ballinaboola. Fast Fix picked up €1,900 for Gorey owner Patricia Flanagan and trainer Noel Walker for placing a close-up third.

Well-known greyhound owner Tommy Woods from Enniscorthy picked up a major award in his full-time occupation on Tuesday at the Godolphin Stud and Stable staff awards presentations at the Newpark Hotel in Kilkenny. Tommy has been a long time with Paul Nolan and is one of the most popular head men in the game. He received a great reception when he was announced as the winner of the ‘Dedication to Racing and Breeding Award’ by Richie Forristal.

The prize includes a cheque for €5,000 and €3,000 for employees from the Nolan yard. Well done Tommy from all your greyhound friends.

The eight first round heats of the George Hair Design Unraced stake were run last Monday night and there was some very nice youngsters on display and this week’s second round can see some very big improvers after some troublesome races in the first round.

The fastest winner of the night was in heat four when Forest Karen led from her inside draw and was a very impressive winner in a very good 29.06.

Heat one went to Hot Diggity Dog who overcame his outside draw to race to the lead at the third bend and ran out a snug winner in a time of 29.15.

Battstreet Chick was well back going into the first bend but missed the trouble on the outside to slip through to challenge down the back to go to the lead at the third bend and ran out a nice winner in a smart 29.25 in heat three.

Heat five went to Ballinaboola Net who scored well after plenty of trouble the winner came through to score by two lengths another to catch the eye in this race was Cow Lane Lad who came from nowhere after been being badly bumped at the first bend to grab third sport.

Heats six and seven saw a litter double when Maireads Gem and Sky and more improvement is very likely this week.

Moorhamm Sand took heat eight in 29.69 while Constant Review took heat two in a time of 29.83 holding the fast finish of southest rising .

On Thursday night the top performance was in the last race when Piercestown Moll put in a fine run of 28.70 proving six and a half lengths to good for her nearest rival to record her 15th career win.

May 17 results - race 1, Georges Hair Design Open Unraced 525 Round 1 Heat 1: 1, Hot Diggity Dog (owner, Katie McCann, Ballymurn, Co. Wexford), 29.45.

Race 2, Heat 2: 1, Constant Review (owner, John Kavanagh, Inglewood, Enniscorthy), 30.13,

Race 3, Heat 3: 1, Battstreet Chick (owner, Eugene McCabe, The Faythe, Wexford town), 29.55.

Race 4, Heat 4: 1, Forest Karen (owner, Caroline Donovan, Co. Kildare), 29.36.

Race 5, Heat 5: 1, Ballinabola Net (owner (res D), George Roche, Barntown, Co. Wexford), 29.86.

Race 6, Heat 6: 1, Mairead’s Gem (owner, Joe Horan, Co. Kildare; trainer, Fraser Black), 29.81.

Race 7, Heat 7: 1, Mairead’s Sky (owner, Joe Horan, Co. Kildare; trainer, Fraser Black), 29.64.

Race 8, Heat 8: 1, Moorhamm Sand (owner, Philip Moorhead and Nick Hammond, Enniscorthy), 29.99.

May 18-17 results, race 1, Welcome to Enniscorthy S4/S5 350: 1, Metric Kojak (owner, Pauline Byrne, Marshalstown, Enniscorthy), 19.35.

Race 2, Unrecorded Trials Wed and Fri A5 525: 1, Mattys Coutinho (owner, James Gordon, Wexford town), 29.72.

Race 3, Track Supporters A5/A6 Tri Distance semi-final: 1, Invisible Force (owner, Daniel McCartan, Co. Wexford), 30.91.

Race 4, Track Supporters A5/A6 Tri Distance semi-final: 1, Dolls Lady (owner Edward Sheridan, Co. Wicklow), 31.12.

Race 5, The Intertrack Betting A6 525 final: 1, Seagrave Madison (owner, John Bolger, Enniscorthy), 29.57.

Race 6, The Trackside Diner A3 525 final: 1, Strictly Sand (owner, George Roche, Barntown, Co. Wexford), 29.17.

Race 7, The Track Bar A4 525: 1, Lochdara Jet (owner, Daniel Whelan, Enniscorthy), 29.48.

Race 8, www.igb.ie A3 525: 1, Moiras Wanderer (owner, The Dog-wanderers-syndicate), 29.79.

Race 9, Next Meeting Monday 22nd May A1/A2 525: 1, Piercestown Moll (owner, Seamus Whelan, Piercestown, Co. Wexford), 29.00.

May 8 results - race one, Welcome to Enniscorthy A8/A9 525: 1, Skip Outta There (owners, John Codd and Billy Codd), 30.23.

Race two, The Intertrack Betting A7 525: 1, Ravens Prince (owner and trainer, John Kavanagh, Enniscorthy), 29.96.

Race three, Unrecorded Trials Wednesday and Friday A6 525: 1, Drealistown Mama (owners, Power racing syndicate, Ballycullane), 29.90.

Race four, The Show Grounds A5 525: 1, Tandom (res. J; owners, Mason-Hassett synd., Dundrum), 29.58.

Race five, The Trackside Diner A4 525: 1, My Céilí (res. O; owner, Paula Dempsey, Enniscorthy), 29.19.

Race six, The Track Bar A3 525: 1, Kaleighs Cailin (owners, Kaleigh and Matthew O’Connor, Enniscorthy), 29.13.

Race seven, May A2 525: 1, Bubba Maggie (owner, John Meadows, Co. Kilkenny), 29.46.

Race eight, May A1 525: 1, An Tochar Pet (owners, Christine Short and Peggy Mason, Co. Carlow), 29.31.

May 11 results - race one, Track Supporters’ A5/A6 Tri Distance, round one, heat one: 1, Sit Back (owners, Shem O’Donnell and William Walsh, Co. Kilkenny), 29.25.

Race two, heat two: 1, Towm Belle (owner, Seán Dooley, Co. Carlow), 29.19.

Race three, heat three: 1, Shes Our Maureen (owners, Mary Lawlor and Thomas Leniston, Co. Wexford), 29.26.

Race four, heat four: 1, Invisible Force (owner, Daniel McCartan), 29.25.

Race five, The Intertrack Betting A6 525 semi-final: 1, Rowestown Becky (owner, Maurice Redmond, Barntown), 29.46.