Inside Track: Cheers go up as local runner qualifies for Clonmel

If all who cheered home Luckathimgo a winner at last week’s Dundalk & Dowdallhill Coursing Club at Dromiskin plan to see the dog running in the Derby at Clonmel in a few weeks’ time, they would need to get their skids on.

Accommodation is always at a premium in the Tipperary town for the three-day festival, and with this Dundalk runner likely to see beyond the first day at least, planning for an overnight stay is advised.

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At a meeting which produced two major local victories, Luckathimgo’s was undoubtedly the most popular. Trial Stakes are extremely hard to win, but showing tremendous pace each time he went to slips, the syndicate-owned brindle took this one in his stride.

And it was all done to the delight of members of the O’Donnell, Watters, Hoey and O’Connor families, seven of whom share in the dog’s ownership.

There were many others there to lend their support, and when the Judge, Grace Vallely, pulled the red flag to credit Luckathimgo with a one-length defeat of Kildare runner, Talk Tonight, in the final, joy was unconfined. There were a few tears.

Davy Reynolds trains the dog at his Mornington, Co Meath, kennels for Dean Watters, Amy and Dean O’Donnell, Caoimhe, Daire and Conor Hoey, and Amy Rose O’Connor.

Being one who has put a fair few good ones through his hands, Reynolds knows exactly what’s required to compete with the very best in the country. He’ll have Luckathimgo in prime condition.

The meeting’s major prize, the Corn Cuchulainn, went to the Jones kennel in Corduff. A leading fancy from the word go, Central Clever was involved in one of the meeting’s most exciting buckles when he came up against Dale Puca in the semi-final. They were divided by the minimum distance.

But there was no doubt about the white-and-brindle’s superiority in his clash with Return To Racing in the decider. He was fast away from slips, and though Return To Racing, running for the famed Matthews kennel in Newry, gave it everything, he just couldn’t match the long-striding Monaghan representative.

Bookmakers, Gerry Rooney and Jim Collins, had it right from the start in the Corn. The two who made it through to the final were priced up as joint-favourites before coursing got underway, and there was little variation after that.

Owned and trained by Brian and Laurence Jones, Central Clever, was completing a kennel treble in this prestigious event. Baroque set the ball rolling in 2003, and was followed onto the podium by Figaro,11 years later.

The latest winner was another who had no shortage of supporters, many of the Jones clan making it to the Green Road.

The Oaks Trial Stake went for export, the Co Westmeath runner, Taz’s Magic, overcoming Lowside Annie in the final. The runner-up is owned by former MP, Bernadette McAliskey (nee Devlin).

The Jim Collins kennel in Drogheda, which has turned out many Dromiskin winners over the years, two-time Corn Cuchulainn scorer, Greenview Bob, among them, landed the Patsy & Tommy Thornton Stakes with Blueview Ruby, owned by Suzanne Collins.

And in the ever-popular Workers’ Stakes, another south Louth runner, Blame The Rules, was successful, beating club chairman, Seamus Casey’s Back For Lunch in the final.

The winner’s owner, Paul Smith, and his colleague, Brenda Powderly, do tremendous work in the re-homing of retired greyhounds.

The meeting, which attracted big attendances on both days, was run off in near-perfect weather conditions.