Derry Greyhounds: Church St was on Fire in Bill McKinney Memorial 500

The build up to the Annual Track Lotto Gala Night at Brandywell was well underway on Monday as the greyhounds secured their places in next week’s Finals of the Managers Select Sprint, the Bookmakers 500, the Bill McKinney Memorial 500 and the Benny Barrett Memorial Sprint.

The finalists were already decided in previous weeks for the Billy & Sheila Quigley Memorial 525 and the trap draw is; T1 Starcash Barry, T2 Inniskeen Mandy, T3 Porthall Lucia, T4 Da Red Lion, T5 Eager Colm, T6 Knockavilla Jet. This prestigious Gala Night has been part of the racing calendar for over 20 years and credit must go to the Track Lotto Team who organise and co-sponsor it.

Brendan McLaughlin got his night off to a terrific start when winning both semi-finals of the Managers Select Sprint with young littermates Culmore Niamh and Reneas Boy (Deerjet Sydney x Culdaff Lady, Jan ’24). Drawn in trap 5, Niamh led from boxes but Skywalker Tina had enough early pace to draw upsides her at the first turn. Niamh ran strong bends on Tina’s outside and emerged into the home straight with a couple of lengths advantage.

She stayed on gamely to clock 17.03 with Tina 2.25 lengths away in second. Maisies Susie was a further 0.75 lengths back in third. Not to be outdone by his sister, Reneas Boy was highly impressive when winning his semi-final in a fast time of 16.79 for Brendan McLaughlin. Evenly away from trap 3, he showed good early pace to put the race beyond the reach of his rivals at the first turn. He maintained his advantage to the line, 5.75 lengths ahead of Mulroy Torpedo in second with Ballyquin Mandy a further 5.25 lengths back in third.

The Trap Draw for the Final of the Managers Select Sprint is; T1 Culmore Niamh, T2 Reneas Boy, T3 Maisies Susie, T4 Skywalker Tina, T5 Mulroy Torpedo, T6 Ballyquin Mandy.

Races 3 & 4 on Monday’s programme decided the finalists for the Bookmakers 500. First to book her place was Master Daniel O’Hagan’s Burgess Abbie (Deerjet Sydney x Droopys Dargle, May ’23). Fast away from trap 2, Abbie moved in towards the rail on the run to the first bend. She turned the bend just in front of Galliagh Voice and thereafter was never in any danger of being caught. Abbie clocked 28.45 and had 3 lengths to spare over Brandywell Queen in second and a further 1.75 lengths to Sniper Ava. The second semi-final was turned into a procession by the in-form Country Curly (Magical Bale x Mystic Ann Marie, Aug ’22) for Thomas Brennan. Fast away from trap 6, he made every yard of the running to notch up his 4th consecutive victory. Curly clocked 28.32 for the 500 yards with Do It Kay 3.5 lengths back in second and Ballyquin Tilly a further 3 lengths away in third.

The Trap Draw for the Final of the Bookmakers 500 is; T1 Burgess Abbie, T2 Sniper Ava, T3 Ballyquin Tilly, T4 Do It Kay, T5 Country Curly, T6 Brandywell Queen.

The Bill McKinney Memorial 500 semi-finals were next up and were closely contested races. Track specialist and veteran Newsreel (Good News x Oldburrin Queen, May ’21), won in a thrilling finish to Race 5 for owner Sarah Leahy and trainer Kevin Canning. He was the ‘Dog With Most Wins’ at Brandywell last year and is making a bold bid to retain his title as this was his third win at the circuit already in 2025.

Brandywell; Ronan Wray was presented with a trophy that Sniper Roro won after he won the Sprint Shoot Out last week. Ronan is with his dad Kealan O’Kane & the trophy was presented by Sean Rouse (right) on behalf of the sponsor Daniel White.

Only moderately away from trap 6, he was slow into stride and turned the first bend at the tail of the field. Belindas Laila was setting a fast gallop up front and Newsreel had 8 lengths or so to make up on her as he turned the third bend still only in fifth place. As the early pacers started running out of steam up front, Newsreel came around the outside of them all with a flying finish to claim the honours by a short head in 28.31 from Belindas Laila in second with Comer Runaway 0.75 lengths behind in third. It was a blanket finish with the first 5 dogs only separated by less than 2 lengths.

The most impressive clock of the night, 27.82, was posted by the Conall Doherty owned and Martin Gallagher trained Church St Fire (Cabra Firmino x Clounbrane Kerry, Sep ’22) in Race 6. Fire led up from trap 5 with Boozed Debra in trap 2 close on his heels. With the advantage of the inside line, Debra took up the lead entering the back straight gaining a few lengths on her rival. But Fire was not to be denied and he relentlessly kept up a strong gallop to get back up right on the line for the verdict over Debra by a short head with Ocean Mini taking up the third spot.

The trap draw for the Bill McKinney Memorial 500 is; T1 Belindas Laila, T2 Boozed Debra, T3 Ocean Mini, T4 Newsreel, T5 Comer Runaway, T6 Church St Fire.

Races 7 & 8 brought the night’s action to a close and decided the finalists for the Benny Barrett Memorial Sprint. The first semi-final proved to be a real buckle to the first bend by the early pacers. Meet More Often flew out from trap 1 with Catunda Chloe in trap 2 showing the best early pace to reach the bend with a narrow lead on her outside. Catunda Chloe (Ballymac Best x Swallow, Aug ’21) ran strong bends to open up a lead on her rival which she held to the line. The William Mullan owned and trained Chloe clocked 16.85, finishing 1.25 lengths ahead of Meet More Often with Townsend Swift taking the third place qualifying spot.

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Dellser Bolger (Ballymac Bolger x Fair Act, Jul ’23) won the second semi-final in 16.88 after a determined run from trap 1 for Richard Graham and Patrick Edgar. The early paced Tri Bella led around the first turn but moved off the inside rail which allowed Bolger a lovely run through. He took up the lead entering the home straight and won by 0.75 lengths from Sniper Orla Wray in second with Tri Bella grasping the very last crucial qualifying spot for the Finals next week.

The trap draw for the Benny Barrett Memorial Sprint is; T1 Meet More Often, T2 Tri Bella, T3 Catunda Chloe, T4 Sniper Orla Wray, T5 Townsend Swift, T6 Dellser Bolger.

Brendan McCaul (Rest In Peace)

The sad news reached the Brandywell greyhound community of the sad passing of Brendan who was a Racing Manager at the Greyhound Track back in the 70’s. Tributes have been left on social media and it is clear that he was very well respected amongst those who had the pleasure of knowing him.

Brendan McCaul who sadly passed away earlier this week. He was the Racing Manager in the 70’s at Brandywell. May he Rest In Peace.

He was described as ‘a true gentleman’, ‘great friends with everyone’, ‘always helpful’, ‘a great greyhound man’ and ‘a lifelong supporter of the track’. Our community would like to pass our deepest condolences to all of his family and friends.

Fastest of the week at Lifford Greyhound Stadium

Blackstone Story (Skywalker Canny x Blackstone Balad, Jul ’23) was the fastest over the 525 trip at the venue when winning the Rosies Café A4/A5 on Sunday for William Mullan. He improved on his winning time last week when he had clocked 29.62. Racing from trap 1, Story was led around the opening bend by Hazelhill Bill in trap 6. Story took up the lead at the sprint boxes and from there he ran out an easy 6.25 length winner in 29.25. He is a dog that is improving with each race and now has notched up 3 wins from only 8 starts.