Derry Greyhounds: Barry Turns 99th Start Into A Starcash Finish

With milder weather being forecast for Monday, there was a good turnout at the Brandywell to witness the dogs enjoy themselves as part of a 7 race programme.

Golan Zara (Ballyhimikin Jet x Golan Hunter, Aug ’24) made it back to back wins when landing the opener over the 300 yards trip. She was voted our favourite performer after her win 5 weeks ago when the racegoers spotted her potential and she followed up on that with another noteworthy performance for her owner Leslie Hunter. Drawn in trap 1, Zara was only moderately away from boxes but had enough early pace to get the turn in front.

Once leading, she ran on well to the line and held off the late charge of Ambys Princess by half a length in 17.33. This was her second win from only 4 starts. A terrific strike rate.

Race 2 saw another promising youngster pick up her first win on only her second attempt. Sarah Leahy’ Ballyquin Ava (Dromana Bucko x Flashing Cleo, Aug ’24) was slowly away from trap 2 but showed plenty of early dash to scorch up the inside rail and take the lead at the first bend.

She ran on strongly to win by 3.25 lengths in 17.07 for the 300 yards. She looks like she has the stamina to enable her to step up to 4 bends in due course.

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Our third sprint event of the night was won by Mark Lindsay’s Boynepark Micka (Signet Ace x Boynepark Mile, Sep ’23). Well away from trap 6, he had to relinquish the early lead to the early paced Freyas Robyn but as the runners turned the first bend, Micka swept around their outside to take up the lead.

He entered the home straight with a comfortable advantage and won by 1.75 lengths in 17.03. This was a third win from only 7 starts for this lightly raced 2.5 year old 81 pound lad. Plenty more to come hopefully with race fitness and experience.

Brandywell; Race 1. Monday 300 was won by GOLAN ZARA in 17.33. Pictured with Leslie Hunter (right) & Enda O’Goan.

We switched to 4 bend action over the 500 yard trip for Races 4, 5 & 6. First up was evergreen veteran Starcash Barry (Droopys Noah x Lightfoot Marie, Aug ’21) who proved he was as keen as ever to be back on track after a 4 week rest.

Racing from trap 1 he moved to his favoured trap 2 lane as he left the traps yet he still had enough early pace to forge into the lead at the first turn. Once in front, Barry is a tough nut to crack and despite being under pressure firstly from Promises To Keep on the back straight and then briefly over taken by Ardagh Madrid between the third and fourth bends, Barry rallied on gamely to win by a short head in 28.19.

An incredible 24th victory from 99 starts. He is a credit to the Toland family and his recent record reads 3 wins from his last 4 starts. Barry won his first race at Brandywell in April 2023 and he is a dog that has truly earned the hearts of the Brandywell patrons with his determination and thrilling finishes over the years.

Brian Robinson’s Reenaderry Ellie (Dromana Bucko x Ellie O, Sep ’24) got her first career success when winning Race 5 in 28.23. This was only her fourth start but she handled a rather tricky trap 5 draw to take up second place as the field turned the first bend. Eager Marty led to the third bend where Ellie kicked up a gear to overtake on his outside.

Once in front Ellie ran on well to win by 2.25 lengths from the staying on Galliagh Voice.

Brandywell; Race 6, was won by HILLSTREET POP in 28.37. Pictured with Shaun Eastwood.

Hillstreet Pop (Pat C Sabbath x Port West Pop, Mar ’22) had won 6 races in Clonmel before arriving up to trainer Shaun Eastwood’s kennels a month ago.

She was having her third race at Brandywell on Monday for owner Pat O’Connor in Thurles and she won Race 6 after showing a nice touch of early pace from trap 5 to turn the first bend on the outside of Beanos Snowflake. Pop entered the back straight in front and stayed the 500 yards well enough to hold off the fast finishing Leos Jo by 1 length.

We returned to the 300 yard sprint trip for the finale and it was a real thriller with only a short head and a neck separating the first 3 home. Aiden Cullen’s Yahoo Puff (Coolavanny Hoffa x Yahoo Ava, Jul ’23) had to settle for third place in last week’s Brandywell Sprint Final but she made amends for that this week with a flying start from trap 1.

Her tendency to run wide on the bends, loses her some ground but despite giving Sniper Orla Wray the chance to gain ground on her inside, Puff had enough left in the tank to power home up the straight and landed the spoils in the fastest time of the night; 16.87.

The semi-finals of the March ON2/ON3 525 were the feature events on Saturday’s race programme. The first heat was won by Padhraic O’Neill’s Benbradagh Bono (Broadstrand Bono x Coolavanny Charm, Aug ’24). Despite posting a slow 2.89 sectional he managed to come from the back of the field to win by 4.5 lengths in 29.52.

John McQuillan with his 4 winners at Lifford on Sunday, (from left) Jack Mc Quillan is holding FALSE STATEMENT & ROUGH FREEDOM, Darcie Mc Quillan is holding FALSE RUMOUR and PHARIS PEAK.

It was impressive effort from this young 79 pound pup on his first career start. The second heat was won by the Rebecca Porter owned and Alan Byrne trained Drumdoit Audrey (Mcinerney x Ballymac Ariel, Oct ’24). This was a very impressive performance with Audrey posting a fast 2.66 sectional to lead from trap to line.

Her time was 29.01 which was the fastest time of the night. She is one for the notebooks and there will be plenty of interest in watching how the Final unfolds later this week.

The talking point of Sunday’s race meeting was the 4 timer landed by trainer John McQuillan. False Statement (Ballyhimikin Jet x Kishlawn Shakira, Jun ’23) won Race 3 the A5/A6 525 in 29.41. Rough Freedom (Pestana x Bubbly Rose, Jul ’22) won Race 5 the A6 525 in 30.02. False Rumour, who is False Statement’s litter brother won Race 6 the A5 525 in 29.49 and Pharis Peak (Coolavanny Hoffa x Native Margo, Aug ’24) won Race 9, the A5 525 in 29.66. His quartet returned at prices of 13/8 fav, 7/2, 4/1 and 3/1 respectively. A terrific accomplishment indeed from a kennel in form.

Finally, Sniperboulavogue (Pestana x Classy But Sassy, Mar ’24) deserves a mention after he made it back to back wins at Lifford for Kealan O’Kane. He followed up on his 29.42 victory last week with a 29.37 effort in Race 10 the A3 525. This was the fastest clock on Sunday and he is certainly a dog who is currently at the top of his form.