Dunmanway Saturday

‘LOW-key’ is the best way to describe the harness action at both Irish meetings last weekend. The Irish American weekend on June on 4th and 5th at Lyre is the first feature meeting of the year and many horses are being trained to perform at Ger Heggarty’s farm.

At Dunmanway on Saturday there was a mix of the old and the new as the long-term champion Cork driver shared the spoils with some younger drivers.

Donal Murphy stood out as the only established driver to taste success at Dromleema Lawn, Dunmanway, last Saturday. The Baltimore man scored a double on a card dominated by the younger generation.

Donal’s brace was initiated when IB Paddington, co-owned by Bill Donovan of Florida took out the E to F grade pace. Oakwood Maestro and Jamie Hurley put up a fight but the six-year-old son of Foreclosure won cosily enough.

The Dunmanway track looks pretty on the video (full replays can be seen on IHRA facebook page). However, even though the locals had done a great job mowing and levelling, the circuit still caught out a few runners.

The turns are sharp and the road crossing upsets the odd pacer or trotter. Duc d’Arry jostled for favouritism with Comete des Landes. However, Duc broke several times with driver Denis O’Reilly. The beneficiary was Comete des Landes (Donal Murphy) who beat Fina Mix (Patrick Hill) by three lengths.

Successful

The winner has been a successful toe-in-the water of harness racing for thoroughbred men Thomond O’Mara and John Madigan.

Proceedings opened with a win by Dublin raider Troy McAleer.

The Dubs won a grade G pace with Kenosha Comet, by Doonbeg. Troy would go on to win at Annaghmore the next day with Larry Camden.

The Sunday win made it four-from-four for the St Margaret’s outfit, an uncommon strike rate. Biggins (Chris O’Reilly) was the runner up.

The O’Reilly Drimoleague clan had a double on the day. Blue Showdown won the A to D pace for young Cian O’Reilly. Brywins Starship did not land a blow, while Benny Camden arrived late on the scene.

Cian’s 16-year-old cousin Fionn picked up the grade F pace with Rhyds Panache, only two years younger than the driver. Panache has strong form in the book and was, with hindsight, good value at 7/4. Another O’Reilly, Matthew was second with Spartan Warrior.

Up-and-coming driver Luke Kelleher won on his first drive of the season. The capable Macroom youngster was out for most of last season due to an injury sustained at an early meeting.

Therefore, it was nice to see Inspire Me get off the mark for 2023. The winner was a bit lucky in that a gap opened like The Red Sea.

There are not many Grade G trotters which are stabled beside a useful hurdler like Emily Roebling. Full marks to Team Kelleher, they never shirk a challenge, under any code.

Hippie Sisu (Donal Murphy) was in second place. Hallow Way Road (Patrick Hill) looked like the winner before he galloped.

Driving a trotter around this field takes a bit of skill. Oisin Quill sent Destin De Larre on about his business early to win the grade D trot. Humour de Cosse ran second for the Hill family from Leap. The favourite Bibi Dairpet did not threaten.

Oisin’s father Finbarr did say in a recent ‘five to follow’ that Destin was a consistent type.

Appleby

The time-honoured Appleby Spring Trot in Cumbria takes place tomorrow and Monday. Unfortunately, there is only one Irish entry, Ayr Corleone from the Neville Martin yard in Ederney.

The Irish American Weekend, funded by the ‘Invest In Ourselves’ series will be held in Lyre, Clonakilty, on June 4th and 5th. Expect some of last weekend’s placed horses to be driven closer to the pace. The many horses who have been languishing in qualifiers will be out for the big occasion.

The planned meeting at Annaghmore has been pulled due to lack of entries. Racing continues at Dunmanway tomorrow (scheduled start 2.30pm).

Full results, race cards and information can be viewed at www.irishharnessracing.com

Annaghmore Sunday

ANNAGHMORE on Saturday saw four proper races and also four non-gambling, no prize money ‘qualifiers’. On the card proper, Mary Kane Gilligan and Rachel Stewart once more served up good sport in the E to F trot.

The previous week Rachel on Iron Paddy tracked Mary on Hot To Trot and then scooted past in the straight. On Sunday, Rachel led and Mary came with a rattle to take the spoils. At this rate of going, neither will want to make the running in future races. The score is 1-1 between the two great competitors so far.

Hot To Trot (Mary Kane) from Iron Paddy (Rachel Stewart) and Corail de Belande (Tiernan Loughran) was the official result.

“We got a wee bit of vet work done over the winter.” Mary’s father Ger told The Irish Field on Monday, “and as a result the mare is trotting level this year.”

Mary was busy on the day as she organised two races for the children with their Shetland ponies and some larger ponies. The pony racing has been much discussed on social media. The bottom line is, it was nice to see the kids out and they can be the future of the sport.

Comeback horse

Alexander Camden, the comeback horse from the previous week, won again in a similarly emphatic manner.

Co-owner Wattie Stewart is a popular figure at Annaghmore and there was a palpable sense of relief that the horse did not fall foul of the dreaded ‘bounce’ factor after a long lay-off. Thankfully, he looked as sound as a pound.

Wattie told compere Sean Duggan that the horse will get a short break now. Presumably ‘Alex’ will be aimed at some of the larger meetings. A horse in a low grade that can pace 2.00.2 (Sunday’s time) should pay his way.

The opening grade G pace was lively betting race. The Kane first string Rhyds Shady Affair was backed into odds-on. Money came for the Flanagan runner MB King Louis, while Confidential and Larry Camden were also nibbled at.

In trouble

The bookies looked to be in trouble as Patrick Kane on Rhyds Shady Affair took the early lead effortlessly. However, Noel Ryan (Forever Amour) put the leader under pressure and eventually young Troy McAleer came around both with Larry Camden for a win in 2.04.2

At the moment if the McAleers bought a nanny goat to keep the horses company, she would pick up a little race. Troy has a 100% record in 2023 – albeit from four drives.

“A lot of the credit must go to Ned Stafford and TV Tom Heavy – they spend all day with the horses,” said Troy. Tom will be hoping that a 2023 meeting gets televised as that is how the late Hughie Richardson coined his nickname.

Jonny Cowden spoke well of Emil Paco in The Irish Field ‘five to follow’ series. The eight-year-old has hindquarters like a five-furlong sprinter. The combination took out the B to E trot, beating the useful Buliano (Billy Roche) in 2.38.4.