Derry Greyhounds: Seamus’s Mineolas, Notshort Ofpace at Brandywell

The semi-finals of the Geoff Thompson Memorial 500 were the feature events on the Brandywell card on Tuesday evening.

Sponsored by Sam Stewart and family, and Track Lotto, both semi-finals were won by litter mates from Seamus McCloskey’s homebred produce out of Mineola Farloe. Farloe was Seamus’s English Derby runner up to the great Westmead Hawk in 2006. Indeed Seamus landed a treble on the 7 race programme after winning Race 6 as well.

Racing got underway with a couple of sprint contests. First up was Robert Montgomery’s De Three Divils (Burgess Bucks x Culdaff Blue, Jun ’22). Well away from trap 3, Divils showed the most pace to reach the crucial first bend in front.

Despite swinging wide off the second bend she had enough in the tank to hold off the fast finishing Townsend Peggy by 0.5 lengths. Her time was 17.14 and it brings her career tally of wins to 4.

There was a win on debut for John Cunningham’s Ardevan Dinger (Broadstrand Bono x Ardevan Jewel, Dec ’22). He was only moderately away from trap 1 but showed impressive acceleration to be up with the lead at the first bend.

He bravely held his position despite being under pressure on his outside and ran on well to clock 17.01 when winning by 1.25 lengths. It was an effort that ticked a lot of boxes for a pup having his first race.

The first semi-final of the Geoff Thompson Memorial 500 saw the competition favourite Notshort Ofpace (Mineola Farloe x Mineola Radical, Nov ’22) justify his position at the head of the market.

Seamus McCloskey’s hound was moderately away from trap 3 and tucked in behind the early leader Generous Tricast rounding the first bend.

He showed decent back straight pace to be on Tricast’s inner at the third bend and opened up an impressive 6 lengths on his rivals as he crossed the line in a fast 27.68. Tricast held on for second place, with Seamus’s other hound, Mineola Redeem, running on for third to also book his place in next Monday’s final.

Seamus McCloskey owns 3 of the finalists that have made it into next week’s Geoff Thompson Memorial 500 final after Mineola Topman (Mineola Farloe x Mineola Radical, Nov ’22) showed terrific trackcraft to win the second semi-final in 28.02. After a slow start from trap 5, he came from last to first place as the field exited the second bend despite being squeezed for room throughout.

Brandywell Race 4, The Geoff Thompson Memorial 500 Yds. Semi-Final 2 was by MINEOLA TOPMAN in 28.02. Pictured with Gregory Kearney & Seamus Mc Closkey.

He ran on well to clock 28.02 and held off the fast finishing Bows Hill Jet by 0.75 lengths with Scally Annie in third taking the last qualifying place for next week’s final.

Race 5 was won by Declan Ferry’s new recruit from the Kilkenny Sales, Corbrack Bono (Broadstrand Bono x Tinas Peggy, Sep ’22). Evenly away from trap 4, he had just enough pace to get to the first turn on the inside of the early leader Tinas Higa.

Once he edged in front of her, he held off all challenges at the third bend and then opened up an impressive 4.75 lengths on his rivals as he crossed the line in 28.20 for the 500 yards. It was a second career success for this lad from only 7 starts.

Mineola Oyster (Mineola Farloe x Mineola Coolagh, Sep ’22) completed Seamus McCloskey’s treble on the night in race 6. She made the most of her trap 1 draw and took up the lead at the first turn.

From there she was unchallenged and ran on well to win by 5 lengths in 28.01 for the 500 yards to bring her career tally to 2 wins from just 9 starts.

Lifford on Sunday Race 5 - The NWGOBA BUY A BUSTER S3 325 was won by COMER RUNAWAY in 17.62. Pictured with, from left; Shea Cassidy, Sean Melly, Stephen Radcliffe, Padraic O’Neill & Kevin Canning.

The last race of the night was over the 300 yards and it looked a competitive affair on paper. But it was Charlie Baxter’s homebred Generous Cashout (Ballymac Best x Generous Daisy, Sep ’22) that showed great pace throughout to claim victory.

Track specialist Townsend Swift in trap 5 ran her usual terrific race to take second place but Cashout’s ideal trap 1 pitch was just too much of an advantage for Swift to handle with Cashout also showing the superior stamina on the run home.

A reversal of the trap draw between these two protagonists would make for an interesting contest. The time was 16.82 with 2.5 lengths separating them at the finish.

Action from Lifford Greyhound Stadium

With the valuable TIME Greyhound Nutrition S1/S2 325, worth €1,000 to the winner, scheduled to commence next Sunday at Lifford Stadium, a relatively quiet weekend at the Northwest venue was set alight by a brilliant performance from Own And More on Friday night.

Trained by Paul Magee for John McNamee, this handy black has proved an astute purchase for connections as he comfortably secured a third victory since arriving at Co. Donegal.

On this occasion, he was the on downgrade and was duly installed as the 4/5 favourite to bounce back from a couple of second place finishes.

Running from six, in truth, this was all one-way traffic as the son of Burgess Bucks and Coolavanny Spice pinged out to record a rapid 2.61 sectional.

In doing so, his rivals simply had no answer as Own And More set a scorching gallop down the back straight before showing his customary strong stamina abilities.

Lifford on Saturday; Race 8 - The GOODNIGHT AND SAFE HOME A3 525 was won by OWN AND MORE in 28.90. Pictured with Paul & Jane Magee.

A comprehensive three and a quarter length winner over the gallant Longrange Glam crossing the line, Own And More ensured he would once again grace higher company next time out as he stopped the clock in a brilliant 28.90.

On Sunday afternoon, it was all about the sprinters and several greyhounds produced very smart clocks and the first to do so was Comer Runaway, who secured back-to-back wins for the On-The-Run-Syndicate. The 6/4 favourite, the son of Great Blue Shark and Coolavanny Muir trapped well from his middle berth in four and quickly excelled in the early stages to post a swift 4.34 sectional.

In command entering the first bend, ‘Comer’ expertly put this contest to bed as he powered up the Lifford hill to see off Drveen Brush by one and a half lengths. The time was a fast 17.62. 

Shortly after, in the Open 325, the brilliant Ardagh Vis once again showed why he is at the top of the tree in sprinting terms at the Northwest venue. Owned by Conor Crossan, ‘Vis’ was on the comeback trail, however, his 17.41 certainly suggested he was the one beat despite a tricky draw in five.

A generous 2/1 market chance, the son of Broadstrand Bono didn’t get everything his own way early on, however, proved a class above his rivals on the run home as he bridged several lengths on his rivals to reel in Sniper Roro and get the nod by a head.

The time was a blistering 17.51 and one suspects that with a clear run, he could shave at least twenty spots off that clock. 

The handsome Drumcrow Darwin visited Brandywell on Tuesday. His presence stirred plenty of attention and rightly so for this gorgeous blue brindle.

Not to be outdone, the final standout performance on Sunday came from Paul Ryan’s Blackstone Senna as she produced a career best effort over the two-bend trip. Known more for her exploits over the standard distance, this lady has buckets of early speed and she duly showcased this with a fine break from three to lead.

As a result, she was always going to prove a tough nut to crack and the 3/1 chance was not in any mood to be denied a sixth career victory.

Setting a relentless gallop for trainer Michael Taggart, the daughter of Ballymac Best and Blackstone Angie put the race to bed on the run for home as she emerged a one and a half length winner from Rackethall Nando in second. The time was a rapid 17.56.