Greyhounds: Corr kennel lands Brandywell double

A decent crowd was in attendance for the night’s racing and to witness a memorable night for Tyrone based trainer, Michael Corr who recorded a magnificent double on the card.

Michael nearly always starts his pups off with races at the Brandywell venue and he had two well bred pups in the first two races on the card last Monday night.

In the first race over the sprint distance, Spring Thing was the Corr representative – an October ‘22 pup owned by Roy Bell and Trevor Pearson.

And the vibes were good in the betting market before the off for Spring Thing as the 6/4 soon disappeared and she was evens to win as the hare was sent into motion at trap rise.

From trap six Knockadoo Chris led to near the bend but spring Thing showed good pace from trap two and she drove through to take the lead and galloped on strongly to win by over three lengths in a time of 17.10 to land leg one of the Corr kennel double on the night.

In the next race, also over the sprint distance, the Corr kennel double was landed. La Calabaza – a November ‘22 bitch under the same ownership of Bell and Pearson - was once again well supported at 6/4 into 5/4 before the off. And she had to do it the hard way!

Not too well away from trap four, she had to show good track craft around the opening bend to get into a challenging position but once into the home straight she showed good pace to go past the early leader Tina's Woody and, in the end, La Calabaza had over a length to spare at the line winning in a time of 16.97 to land the double.

In-form trainer Stephen Radcliffe also had a well-punted winner on the card with De Three Divils 6/4 into 4/5 showing improved form, winning by two lengths in a time of 16.91.

The bookmakers were experiencing a terrible night and going into the final race they were hoping for a result but things went from bad to worse.

My Revolut was punted from 2/1 into 6/4 before the off and she showed good courage to drive through at the first bend to take the lead and she went on to win by just under two lengths in a time of 16.92 for local owner Shea Cassidy.

So, as normal, there will be racing next Monday night at Brandywell with the first race at 8pm.

Track Lotto Finals at Lifford

There will be racing as normal at Lifford on Friday night with an all-graded card.

However, on Sunday night’s card, two finals of the Track Lotto sponsored competitions will be down for decision.

There were semi-finals of both competitions last week at the Donegal track. The first final will be the Trackside Restaurant 525 and it looks very open after last week's semi-finals. In the first semi-final last week Unreliable, owned by Willie Mullen, from trap two came with a strong finish to win by half a length in a time of 29.31 with Harrogatetownbaz back in second and Do it Jella back in third.

In the second semi-final Maggie's Aim also came from off the pace to win a time of 29.42 for owner Martin Corr. Wilms Blake finished second with Ardnasool Arc back in third.

This final is tough to call but I think Ardnasool Arc has a great draw in four and I’ll select her to win this final for Ballindrait based owner Orla McGhee and trainer Cathal McGhee.

The semi-finals of the N.W.G.O.B.A sprint final also took place last week at the track. In the first semi-final Droopys Cynthia showed brilliant pace to win in a fast time of 17.53 for local owner Charles Coyle with Ardnasool Rebel back in second and Longvale Finn in third. In the second semi-final Bolgers Circle showed big improvement to win in a fast time of 17.54 for Kells based owner David McKenna. Snooty Rolo was back in second with Clooney Rebel in third also qualifying for the final. Looking at this final its looks a straight match between the semi-final winners and with only one spot on the clock between them, it's a tricky call but Bolgers Circle has a length advantage on the split times on the run to the bend and that's the deciding factor for me. Therefore he is the selection to win for his Kells based owner, David McKenna.

Racing tonight at Lifford starts at 7.45pm with Sunday night’s card starting at the earlier time of 6pm.