Satellite Monroe powers to victory in ON3 novice sprint final for Cork owner Mary Murphy

THE programme might not have been as strong as on Friday night, but it was still a very busy scene at Tralee Track on Saturday night, especially in the upstairs restaurant area, and the feature race, the final of a 325 novice sweepstake for ON2 / ON3 class (winner, €800), was won in quite brilliant fashion by Satellite Monroe, owned by Mary Murphy, of Ovens, Co Cork, and trained by Shane Murphy.

Satellite Monroe had been unbeaten in the opening two rounds of the event and, although his times weren’t the fastest, he was still sent off the 6/4 favourite.

Housed in trap 2, he broke at the head of affairs with Trionas Treaty (trap 3) and it was quite electrifying the way he powered clear to score by four lengths from 4/1 outsider, Cheap Sandwiches, with a further two lengths back to Quiet Bossman.

Best of all, Satellite Monroe clocked the magnificent time of 17.40 after previous wins in 17.83 and 17.71 and that reflected really well on a trainer who has the strongest of Lixnaw roots.

Two semi-finals of a 325 sweepstake for ON2 class also formed part of the programme and just three spots separated the two winners. On 17.97 in winning the first semi-final was the Kilmallock-owned Jovis, which was slated to 4/6 and won by four lengths from Steeple Rd Ben, while 18.00 seconds was recorded in the second semi-final by the Cork-owned Vain Sydney, which, like Jovis, ran from trap 6 and won by two and a half lengths from Flying Darren.

No prizes for predicting that either Jovis or Vain Sydney, the only two wide seeds in the event, will win the final this Saturday night, with preference for Jovis.

The draw is (trap order): Slippy Phillip, Slippy Rita, Steeple Rd Ben, Flying Darren, Vain Sydney, Jovis.

The night ended, as on Friday night, with a race worth €500 to the winner. It was for A3 class over 500 yards and the Glin-owned Chippy Chase produced a determined front-running performance to score by a length and a half from Glouner Fungi in 27.71.

Fastest over 525yds was the Tarbert-owned Mail Road Rebel, which decisively overpowered A2 opposition by bombing out of trap 4 and scoring by five lengths from Beginish Blondie in 28.92.

Other winners were Devon Power, 29.36; Misty Raven, 29.43; Amyville Kara, 29.40; Ascot Rolo, 29.70.