Search

06 Sept 2025

Flyer gathered no Moss when racing to victory at Brandywell

Weekly round up of action from Brandywell Greyhound track and Lifford Greyhound Stadium

Flyer gathered no Moss when racing to victory at Brandywell

Brandywell Race 3, The Monday Night 500 was won by MOSS FLYER in 27.81. From left; Matthew, Ceallach & Shane Talbot.

With Spring not far away, the milder weather was a welcome bonus at Brandywell on Monday. The 7 race programme provided plenty of exciting action for the patrons to enjoy.

First up we had a couple of 300 yards sprint races. In the opener, the Patrick Daly owned County Song (Drumcrow Darwin x Drumcrow Holly, Sep ’22) made her career debut a winning one.

Racing from the 4 box this blue brindle lady looked to have lost her chance after breaking slowly from traps, but she showed impressive acceleration to put herself into contention by the first bend. Using good trackcraft on the bends, she moved up between the leading pair and emerged from the second bend in front. She galloped on strongly up the home straight to win by 2.5 lengths and clocked 17.10.

With pace, trackcraft and youth on her side, she looks to have a promising future.

In the second race, Shes Cool (Droopys Sydney x Coolavanny Tammy, Aug ’22) relinquished her maiden tag on only her second attempt for Eugene O’Neill. Trapping evenly from the 3 box, she was sharing the lead as the field arrived at the first bend but showed a lovely burst of pace to accelerate around Maisies Susie on her inside.

Eugene’s hound opened up a few lengths of a lead and ran on well to hold off the late challenge of Longrange Trend by 1 length in 17.02. Shes Cool is from a promising litter as her brother, Gun Slinger, won his first race in Clonmel in a flying 28.42 (.10 slow) for the 525 yards.

The fastest run over the 500 yards on Monday came in Race 3 when Matthew Talbot’s Moss Flyer (Droopys Sydney x Sidarian Pearl, May ’22) reversed the form with Shelone Glory from last week. After a slick start from trap 1 and bravely holding her position at the first bend, Flyer opened up an impressive 6.25 lengths on her nearest rival Shrewd Stories with Glory only managing the third place position this week. Flyer clocked a speedy 27.81 and added a fourth career win to her CV.

Inniskeen Mandy (Superior Panama x Slaneyside Kerri, Sep ’21) was having her first race at Brandywell when contesting race 4 over 500 yards. With some solid A3/S3 form at the tough Youghal track already on her CV, she used her early pace to take control of proceedings.

Brandywell Race 5, Monday Night 500 was won by SKINNYLITTLEMISS in 28.33. From left; Charlie Baxter & on right is winning owner Peter O’Kane.

Housed in trap 1, she maximised the use of her inside pitch and led from trap to line. Trained by Kevin Canning, this was Colm McConomy’s first greyhound as an owner and his first winner. The nature of Mandy’s exciting success in a decent 28.12 will have given the McConomy family a night to remember.

Deserving

There were none more deserving of a victory on Monday than Peter O’Kane’s Skinnylittlemiss (Ballymac Best x Generous Daisy, Sep ’22). After 7 races finishing in second or third place, this little bridesmaid finally became the bride in race 5.

Well away from trap 6, she had a battle for the lead with Owen Caramel on her inside until the third turn. She ran a great bend to build up a decisive lead and went on to win by 2 lengths in 28.33. The switch to 4 bend action has been the key to her success and she is likely to improve further given more race fitness over the 4 bends.

Brandywell Race 4, The Monday Night 500 was won by INNISKEEN MANDY in 28.12. From left; Fionnuala O’Kane, Gavin Gallagher, Colm McConomy, Oisin Ward & Patsy Doyle from the Bradywell Greyhound Supporters Group.

Kevin O’Kane’s Sniper Roro (Broadstrand Bono x Sniper Ria, Aug ’22) made it 3 wins from only 5 starts when he was paw perfect in Race 6 over the 300 yards trip. A slick exit from trap 1 and great early pace put the race beyond the reach of his rivals. He won by 1.75 lengths in a decent 16.95 and, as would be expected, this 77 pound pup is showing steady improvement with age and race experience.

The last race of the evening proved to be a terrific sprint contest. Sheanicelady in trap 3 and Longrange Rapid (Pestana x Longrange Dawn, Sep ’21) in trap 6 cut out the early pace to the first bend.

But it was Hugh Mallon’s Rapid that ran a great first bend on the outside of Lady to take up the lead. From there, he ran on well up the home straight to clock a very fast 16.61 with Lady only 1.25 lengths away in second.

Brandywell Race 2, The Monday Night 300 Sprint was won by SHES COOL in 17.02. With brothers, from left, Hugh Pat O’Neill & owner Eugene O Neill.

Whilst it was an impressive run by Rapid, it was also great to see Lady running up to her best form.

Action from Lifford Greyhound Stadium

There was some brilliant action at Lifford Greyhound Stadium over the weekend and patrons were treated to sensational performance on Friday night from the Ciaran McLaughlin-owned Galliagh Darkie.

Just out of puppy categorization, the son of Droopys Biker and Greenfield Lark won on his last start at the North-West venue, however, he improved considerably to dominant a smart field from the outset. Donning the white jacket, ‘Darkie’ showed a lovely turn of early speed before drawing clear down the back to post a rapid third-bend sectional. Flying up the hill, the strapping black never relented as he powered across the line to win by eight and three parts of a length. The time was a blistering 28.79.

Lifford Sunday Race 6 The A1 Roofing S1 325 was won by ASTRO BLAZE in 17.62. Owned by the Sporting Chance Syndicate, pictured from left; Riley Neeson, Oran O’Doherty, Pat O’Doherty, Paul Magee, Jane Magee & James Magee.

Another Derry recruit also dipped under 29-seconds on the night as Newsreel finally delivered after several troublesome outings. Trained by Kevin Canning for Sarah Leahy, the son of Good News and Oldburrin Queen was well-supported into even money and broke well from six to dispute early on. Taking charge entering the back, Newsreel stormed clear of his rivals to win by an extending twelve lengths, in a time of 28.83.

There was €500 up for grabs in the final of the Lifford Stadium S4/S5 325 and this went the way of the Brian Robinson-trained Dayinthebog, who finished like a train to score in style. The orange-jacketed runner was slowly into stride but benefited from first bend traffic to swoop to the front. In doing so, the son of Dorotas Wildcat and Cricket Wall stayed on stoutly to see off Millburn Dove by a half-length. The time was 17.67.

Elsewhere on Friday, there was a nice double for kennel of Neil McBride and this was kick-started by novice runner, Tartan Priority.

The daughter of Dorotas Wildcat and Droopys Esther stayed on strongly up the hill to score by four lengths, in a time of 17.93. The double was completed when Tartan Grace landed a messy affair in exciting fashion.

Lifford Friday Race 6 The Lifford Stadium S4/S5 325 Final was won by DAYINTHEBOG in 17.67. Pictured with Gerard Quinn. Photo by John Killen.

The litter sister of ‘Priority’ recovered from trouble to get up in the shadows of the post to win by a head from Fridays Acclaim in second. The time was 30.30.

Sunday night saw more top-class action and there were some terrific performances over the sprint distance throughout the card with the likes of Dublin Jimmy, Astro Blaze and Dromrich Shadow all producing sub 17.70 performances.

Longrange Glam picked up the baton from Galliagh Darkie and Newsreel on Friday night as she too dipped under 29-seconds with a terrific display for Hugh Mallon.

Taking charge at the halfway point in her A5 contest, the daughter of Pestana and Longrange Dawn, stretched clear to win by just six lengths, in a fine 28.95.

To continue reading this article,
please subscribe and support local journalism!


Subscribing will allow you access to all of our premium content and archived articles.

Subscribe

To continue reading this article for FREE,
please kindly register and/or log in.


Registration is absolutely 100% FREE and will help us personalise your experience on our sites. You can also sign up to our carefully curated newsletter(s) to keep up to date with your latest local news!

Register / Login

Buy the e-paper of the Donegal Democrat, Donegal People's Press, Donegal Post and Inish Times here for instant access to Donegal's premier news titles.

Keep up with the latest news from Donegal with our daily newsletter featuring the most important stories of the day delivered to your inbox every evening at 5pm.