‘All the Luck in Life Gala’ Memorial Night draws big crowd to Brandywell
It was great to see another large crowd at Brandywell on Monday for the ‘All the Luck in Life Gala Night of Racing.
The meeting is organised annually by Lynda Bonner in memory of her late father, Robert, a very popular figure in local greyhound racing circles who raced his dogs at the Track for many years.
In fact all the races on an excellent card of racing were sponsored by families and friends in memory of loved ones who were involved in local greyhound racing
Race one: The Grainne Cuerden Memorial Sprint (sponsored by Alan Cuerden) was won by 4/6 shot ‘Am Off It’ in a time of 17.17 for owner Ciaran McLaughlin.
Race Two: The Paddy Bell Memorial Sprint (sponsored by Eddie Hurson) was won by 6/4 shot ‘Brassneck Mert’ in16.85 for joint oweners Martin Healy and Stephen Radcliffe.
Race Three: The Nora Watson Memorial Sprint (sponsored by Graham Watson) was won by 5/2 shot ‘Porthall Kona in 16.73 for joint owners Kyle Porter and Dylan Porter.
Race Four: The Robert Bonner Memorial 500 (Sponsored by Lynda Bonner, family and friend) was won by evens shot ‘Meenagh Manila in 27.73 for owners Anthony and Chole Taggart.
Race Five: The Jason Baxter Memorial 500 (sponsored by Charlie Baxter) was won by 4/6 shot Shadowline in 28.22 for owners Darren Fahy and Stephen Radcliffe.
Race Six: The Pat and Kitty O'Goan Memorial 525 (sponsored by Eamon O'Goan) was won by 9/4 shot ‘YouAndMeBoth’ in 29.86 for Aiden Cullen.
Race Seven: The Donal McGarry Memorial Sprint (Sponsored by McGarry Motors LTD) was won by 4/5 shot ‘Generous Teddy’ in 16.81 for owner Charles Baxter.
So following what was another fantastic night of racing, the action resumes as normal on Monday night, first race at 8pm.
Trackside Restaurant semi-finals at Lifford
The two semi finals of the Track Restaurant 525 were the main races on last Saturday’s card at Lifford. In the first, ‘My Solitude’ from trap three, who was a impressive winner at Brandywell the previous Monday, was the Evens favourite but totally mistimed the break and his race was over.
It was a different story for ‘Cavies Jet’ (2/1) from trap four. The August ’23 dog flew from traps and soon it was race over as he galloped on strongly to win by over four lengths in 29.28 for trainer Stephen Radcliffe. ‘Do it Sal’ from trap one finished second with ‘Racecourse Julie’ from trap two also qualifying.
In the second semi-final, early pace was again the deciding factor. ‘Sniper Messi’ (5/2) from trap four went clear around the opening bends and looked set for an easy win.
He did start to tire on the run to the line but just held on to win by a neck in 29.25 for local owner, Kevin O'Kane with ‘Porthall Boatman’ second and ‘Roanna Justin’ third.
So looking at Saturday’s final, I think early pace could be the deciding factor once more and the two best starters are ‘Cavies Jet’ (trap three) and ‘Sniper Messi’ (trap five).
My view is that Cavies Jet has an advantage by being drawn on the inside of Sniper Messi so I’d fancy him to win for in-form Derry trainer Stephen Radcliffe. I'll select the strong staying ‘Porthall Boatman’ as the main danger.
As normal racing on Saturday starts at 7.45pm with Sunday racing starting at 2.25pm with free admission on the Sunday.
Trackside Restaurant Final 525:
1 Do it Sal; 2 Racecourse Julie; 3 Cavies Jet; 4 Porthall Boatman; 5 Sniper Messi; 6 Roanna Justin.