Fred Can Slip Clear In The Red

We are down to the final six in this year’s Best Car Parks Gold Cup and what a line up we have.

Fred A Different Dog In Red
Last year Fiery Splendour (5/4 fav) took the honours for Owen McKenna and Eimear Coffey in 28.38. Trainer Paul Hennessy has an unbelievable record in this competition winning it with the likes of Late Late Show, Tyrur Ted, Tyrur Kenny, Joannestown Cash and most recently Priceless Sky!

Hennessy is doubly represented in this year’s renewal with Jaytee Dutch and Painstown Chief. Owner/trainer Larry Dunne has the jolly Slippery Fred in the final, he won this competition back in 2011 with Slippery Bob. Coincidently Bob and Fred are both out of Steamy Windows which makes it all the more special for connections, not forgetting she has already thrown a Derby winner Slippery Robert!

Most people dream of having a brood bitch like Steamy Windows in their kennel, the funny thing is she is being over shadowed by her kennel mate who happens to be a certain Kildallon Maid!

Looking towards the final, the two best drawn runners in the line-up are without doubt Slippery Fred in one and Fair Taxes in six. Fred has a superb record racing from the red box in Shelbourne Park, his record as it stands is four runs and three wins. His only defeat was in the final of last year’s Easter Cup where he finished runner up to Sidarian Blaze only beat a length.

This is my idea of the winner; when he was drawn in five in the semi-final I thought he had it all to do to qualify but he came through with flying colours.

From the word go he was heading for the fence in his semi-final and was kept out around the first two corners, he didn’t get a chance to run down the far side as he was bumping off the race favourite. Once he got the chance to get inside he grabbed it and flew into the third corner. His position in the final was safe from here as he railed tightly off the final corner and up the home straight to finish second behind all the way leader Painstown Chief.

Chief got off to his fastest ever start from trap one recording a slick 1.99 sectional and was never headed. This fellow has ran over 600 yards so stamina was never in doubt. The trap draw hasn’t worked out well for him in the final, he’s drawn in five and I can’t see him getting much of a run from here.

Dutch Value
Chief’s kennel companion Jaytee Dutch finished like an express train to take third position, Dutch got no run for the first part of the race but flew up the home straight. He does boast a 28.15 run over course and distance back in November, that was after a fast start, he seems to have lost his trapping ability in his last five races. He could well be the value of the race with a good start.

Sidarian Vega has come back from his winter break extremely well, he was a runaway winner of the second semi-final. The fact that there was a vacant box in one was a huge help to this Graham Holland trained runner, he depends on the rails very bad. Once he popped out in front last week it was game over.

Vega had a handy advantage on the run to the first turn from his kennel mates Proud Graham in second and Skywalker Pearl in third. They raced in this order down the far side until Fair Taxes slipped into third at the third bend. From here it was race over, the battle was on for second position. Fair Taxes just nabbed Proud Graham for second close to the line.

In Proud Graham’s defence he is a front runner so he did run a game race to keep on as well as he did. I wonder if you asked Graham Holland would he like to reverse the draw for his two runners in the final would he? I reckon he would, Vega would be better off inside Proud Graham in my opinion anyway. Proud Graham is very nippy at the boxes so could have a bit of a coming together with his kennel mate.

The draw has worked very well for Slippery Fred in trap one. He has a slow starter in two, and three and four might not do each other any favours in the middle of the track. Painstown Chief would like to be closer to the fence so he will struggle to get a run. Fair Taxes in six is an enigma. He is a sitting bomb waiting to go off.

It would not surprise me if he was to pop out and lead all the way and rattle the 28 second barrier. His trainer Francie Murry is dynamite in finals so he would be Fred’s biggest danger. Fred gets my vote, he is a different dog when he wears the red jacket!

GMHD Juvenile Classic
We also have ante-post betting available for the GMHD Juvenile Classic which is underway in Tralee at the moment. This is one of the best if not the best unraced stakes in the country. Over the years this competition has thrown up some superstars, the most recent of all being last year’s Boylesports Derby winner Ballymac Matt!

The quality in this year’s stake after one round looks to be as good as ever. No less than three dogs in the stake dipped under 28.20 last week.

Keen Move set the standard running away with his heat in a best of the night 28.12.

Word is he has been sold and is now under the care of Pat Buckley.

Sidarian Eska trained by Graham Holland was next on the clock at 28.13, he flew to the corner in his heat and got the bend ahead of Double Oh Seven. He kicked four or five lengths clear down the far side but from the third corner home Double Oh Seven began to reel the leader in. He did manage to close the deficit down to half a length when they crossed the line some thirteen lengths clear of the dog in third position.

Escapism trained by Owen McKenna is another runner to catch the eye, after a slow start he overcame traffic problems to win his heat in 28.47. Turee Bolt is the leading local runner for Patrick O’Connor, he exploded from the boxes (2.94 sectional) to go on and win his heat in 28.39. The second round takes place this Friday night and can be seen using the Barking Buzz app on your smart phone or on www.IGB.ie!

Keep up to date with a number of ante-post markets available at the moment including both the English and Irish Derbys, the Golden Jacket at Crayford and the Gold Cup at Shelbourne on www.Boylesports.com.

This time next week we will know the draw for the Irish Cup which will bring down the curtain for this year’s coursing season. Needham Work will be gearing up to defend his title, but he will have the likes of last year’s runner up Blades Of Hope, Portain Ash, Mulboy King and Kyle Bruce all trying to take his crown.

Reports from last week’s Tipperary & District were excellent and there were some very deserving winners down there. Congratulations to all involved in the club and all the winners! #BetOnBoyle for all things greyhounds!