Lightning Bolt In Tralee

We said after the first round that it was going to be hard to see the winner come from outside the big four in the opening round.

The Big Two
Two of the four have made the decider, Lenson Rocky and Escapism. Sidarian Eska was withdrawn out of the second round by his trainer Graham Holland and Double Oh Seven was a big fancy to qualify last week but got into all sorts of bother around the opening two corners which ended his chances of qualifying.

The betting suggests that the winner will be either Lenson or Escapism, I’m not 100% sure this will be the case. I’m giving trap four Turree Bolt a huge chance for in form trainer Patrick O’Connor. He showed a sizzling dash of early pace in the opening round (2.94 sectional from trap one) and again last week he paced up well from an unfavourable draw in six.
Bolt has to be given a chance on both of those runs, he will wear the black jacket in Friday night’s final. This could work out well for him because trap three Mobile Tracker will be turning left straight out of the boxes.

Rocky III
Lenson Rocky made it three from three last week with an all the way success as the fastest of the night at 28.35. Rocky flew from the boxes to lead up from Turee Bolt in second and Tommys Lord in third. They remained in the same positions down the far side.

Bolt was not letting Rocky go too far clear down to the third bend which caught my eye as he seems to be a front runner.

It was only up the home straight where Rocky pulled out that extra length/length and a half over his rival pulling clear to win by three lengths.

The second semi-final went the way of the Owen McKenna trained Escapism. This was the first time in the competition that Escapism actually broke ok, but he wasn’t allowed to get a clear run to the bend as trap four Mobile Tracker was moving into the rails the whole way to the corner.

With the trouble between the two aforementioned dogs this allowed Tynwald Baz to skip clear down the back. Silverhill Pat and Escapism raced in sync down the far side disputing second position. You were always waiting for Escapism to open up down the back as that is his style of running. It wasn’t until the third bend where he swept to the front before going on to win by two lengths in 28.65.

Lightning Bolt
Trap one in the final isn’t ideal for this son of Paradise Madison, I think he would be happier out in the middle of the track. Tynwald Baz looks to be the worst drawn in the final in trap six, while Tommys Lord would prefer an inside pitch too!

Taking everything into account I fancy Turee Bolt to upset the big two. He has a better draw in four this week, hopefully he can take a flyer and shows his early toe to the bend. If he manages to do this he can cut the nose off the inside runners and kick clear down the far side!

Easter Cup
The Easter Cup got underway last Saturday night in HQ with a number of the big names from last season making their debuts.

Slippery Fred who was fresh from his win in the Gold Cup two weeks ago set the standard in the opening round with a 29.37 run in the final heat of the night. He ran from trap four which isn’t ideal for him but when he exploded from the boxes it was all over. Jaytee Jet ran a game race in second here in what was only his second start of the year.

Sidarian Vega took the opening heat and after some first bend bumping with Peregrine Falcon, he really opened up down the far side and stopped the clock in 29.61. You can take a few spots off the time after all the bumping.

Legendary Upset
Skywalker Rory was making his debut for trainer Graham Holland in the second heat, he led all the way in a clock of 29.53. Country Legend caused a huge upset in heat 3, Ballydoyle Honey was many peoples’ banker on the night especially because she was in a five dog heat. Country showed early in the heat which isn’t usual for him, he is an out and out stayer so the Honey was going to have it all to do to catch him. He eventually ran out a length winner in 29.53.

Honey to her credit ran exceptionally well to finish second so close to the winner.

Rural Hawaii gained his first win of this campaign on his 4th attempt in heat 4. Rural didn’t take a flyer but paced up well to the bend and kept in more than normal which could help him this year as he tends to keep out a fair bit.

He really opened up down the far side and put the race to bed, as usual he ran wide off the last bend but once straightening up he kept on well to score in 29.73. In the final heat Notorious Ben finished off a great night for team Holland, who ended the night with seven winners. Ben made every post a winning one stopping the clock in 29.97.

Last weekend saw the finish of the 2015/16 coursing season which ended on a high in Co Limerick. Coursing on Sunday was top class and we wish to congratulate all the winners and club members on a job well done. Won’t be long until everyone will be getting next season’s hopefuls ready!
Until then there is plenty of action on the track to keep us entertained! Keep up to speed with all the latest ante-post betting on all the major greyhound competitions taking place at the moment both here and in the UK on www.Boylesports.com.