January is slowly drawing to a close, which is good news for greyhound racing enthusiasts as February is when things really start to get going on the Irish scene. The Gold Cup is fast approaching which will see the reemergence of so many big names, while the Juvenile Classic will also commence at Tralee, providing the perfect springboard to superstardom for a number of Ireland’s most exciting youngsters.
That’s not to say there is nothing to get excited about at present. The two tracks mentioned above are will also provide some top racing this evening with the Dublin Cup and the Nolan C.V.R.T Test Centre Kerry Oaks continuing, although the undoubted feature of the weekend racing are the semi-finals of the Rural Kennels Open Unraced at Clonmel on Sunday evening.
Those venturing to Shelbourne Park this evening are urged to stick with the two favourites in the semi-finals of the Dublin Cup. La Barbaro and Headinthewindow are both in terrific form and have the draw very much in their favour this evening. La Barbaro is seeking a fifth win on the spin in the opening heat and with each start looks more and more like his English Derby winning sire Deerjet Sydney. He has tremendous early speed, stays tight to the fence and is very difficult to pass. For all these reasons he is selected to make every inch at the expense of Knockeen Dawn. Headinthewindow is seeking to go one better by claiming a sixth win on the spin in the second heat. She is a strong runner with the speed to race prominently. As her record would suggest, that’s a winning combination. With a king draw, she should have too much speed for those on her immediate outside, while Edermine Rocky probably isn’t strong enough to hold her should he turn in front.
Tralee hosts the final of the Kerry Oaks and Liam Dowling could once again be the man to follow at the Kingdom stadium. He sends out Ballymac Wendy, who set a strong standard in the semi-finals. Should she trap on terms, it is likely she will have too much ammunition for her rivals and is a confident choice to come home in front. The ladies really came to the fore in the delayed second round of the Rural Kennels Open Unraced at Clonmel on Tuesday night. The early season competition continues on Sunday evening and all eyes will be on Epic Bella and Ballymac Danica after their latest performances.
Ballymac Danica posted a stunning 28.39 on a track rated .10 slow. Given her pedigree it is hardly a surprise. Her sire Ballymac Cooper was a sensational puppy in his youth, while her dam Ballymac Arminta remains one of the fastest bitches to ever race at Shelbourne Park. She captured the 2019 Champion Stakes and her daughter could be on a similar path. Showing exceptional pace down the back straight, she got to the pace-setter Romeo Taylor before stretching right away to win by eight lengths. If repeating that level of form, she could be hard to stop in the opening semi-final.
Serene Highway and the unbeaten Savana Alfredo are seen as dangers but neither could live with Ballymac Danica on the clock last week.
Epic Bella and Carrick Keano will dominate the market in Heat 2. The pair met on Tuesday with Epic Bella getting first run to score in 28.44. Carrick Keano looks exceptionally fast and is more than capable of reversing that form. The draw does favour Epic Bella, however.
The last of the three heats is very interesting. Rural Taylor was brilliant in the opening round, clocking a very 28.88 in slow conditions, but was beaten a long way by the aforementioned Ballymac Danica on Tuesday despite setting the pace to halfway. If he reproduces his opening round effort, he could be hard to stop but the unbeaten Carefree Comet is a worthy adversary, while Toolmaker Bud and Swords Hero have hinted that they could go considerably faster in the future. Have no doubt, a few potential stars will come to the fore in the next week.
