Christy Gillespie Memorial Night of Racing at Lifford

​The event has been organised by Christy's friends, Len McKinney and Aiden McAllister who worked alongside him transporting greyhounds the length and breadth of Ireland and the UK.

The meeting will also be a fundraising event for the Foyle Hospice and several draws will take place throughout the night to fundraise.

There will be seven finals of competitions on the card but the main two races will be the Christy Gillespie Open 550 and the Christy Gillespie/Foyle Hospice Open 575. And in these one-off races there is an €8,000 prize pot with the winner of each race receiving a €5,000 winner's prize. The best greyhounds in the country will be traveling to Lifford to compete in these races.

There will also be a memorial final held in memory of Shay Rooney who was a well known bookmaker and this race was organised by the Rooney family and Shay's good friend Daniel White. In this decider Dan's Direction from trap two is the selection to win for local owner Laurence Crossan.

In The N.W.G.O.B.A 525 final, improving pup No Reply is the selection to win for Tyrone based owner, Bridge Campbell. The big value Tote Sprint looks very open but Shady Skittles has a great trap six draw and he’s selected to win this final for Fermanagh based owner Pat McCrossan.

The RPGTV 525 final is very competitive on semi-final form but Stefan’s Magic’s early pace could be the deciding factor and he is selected to win for Armagh based owner Shea Campbell.

In the Fitzwilliam Sports 525 final, Denos Bay will be an odds-on shot but he has a good bit on hand on the clock and should land the odds for Antrim based owner Sean Harrison and trainer Dean McComb.

The Stadium Bookmakers Sprint Final again looks very open but Oakwood Hero has a great trap draw in six and he’s selected to win for Derry based owners, John McMonagle and Michael Stewart.

The last final on the card will be the RPGTV Firecracker Sprint and it looks a match between Izzy's Jimmy in trap one and Spurge from trap three and I just favour the former to win from trap one.

Just to finish, racing tonight at Lifford with an all-graded card starting at 7.45pm and the Big Gala meeting on Sunday night starts at the earlier time of 6pm.

The full meeting will once again be shown live on RPGTV Sky channel 427 starting at 6pm.

Brandywell Oaks Final

The final of the Bart Teague Memorial Oaks will be the main race on the card at Brandywell on Monday night and there were two semi-finals of the competition last Monday night at the track.

In the first semi-final Shesanicelady was well punted from 6/4 into evens before the off and once again she showed brilliant early pace at traprise to go a few lengths clear in the run to the opening bends. She went further clear along the back straight and she never looked in danger after that, coasting home over four lengths clear in a fast time of 28.95 for the 525 yards for Tyrone based owner, Aiden Cullen.

Elms Cup finished second with Drumcrow Winnie also qualifying for the final.

In the second semi-final, Velvet Jenny was evens favourite to win after her good first round heat win but it was her stable comrade Chetwynd Squeaky that led the field by several lengths around the opening bends. And with trouble in behind her she looked the likely winner going into the final bends but after recovering from first bend trouble, the strong-staying Neon Blue started to close with the favourite, Velvet Jenny also closing fast.

Chetwynd Squeaky looked as if she was going to hang on but near the line Neon Blue got to the lead and won by three quarters of a length in a time of 29.33 for owner Paul James and Lifford based trainer Alan Byrne.

Chetwynd Squeaky finished second with the fast-finishing Velvet Jenny a further short head back in third also qualifying for the final.

The trap draw was made for the final after the semi-finals and all six finalists are inside seeds. My view is the run to the bend could be the deciding factor and Shesanicelady looks the likely leader from trap three. She just gets the 525 yards but if she repeats her semi-final time she should win. Velvet Jenny is selected as the main danger. First race on Monday night at 8pm.