TWO THRILLING SEMI FINALS IN STORE AS EPIC HERO LIMERICK OAKS CONTINUES

Peter Farrell

After some brilliant opening round performances, the two semi finals of the Epic Hero Limerick Oaks serve as the highlight on tonight’s Limerick card and all eyes will be on semi final number two as both Raha Mofo and Burgess Rapid lock horns.

Both bitches really impressed last week when winning their opening round assignments with relative ease and it makes for an intriguing buckle later tonight, with a seed change to Raha Mofo adding further ingredients.

JUST RAFA

Raha Mofo has of course raced as an inside seed on numerous occasions in the past but it is an interesting change given she certainly steered a middle course on the run to the opening bend last time out. Nonetheless, Marissa Molloy’s charge, trained by Murt Leahy, went on to blitz her rivals by four lengths in 28.34 and she will go off as the favourite in her bid to seal her third Oaks title. A class above the field on her best form, the daughter of Droopys Sydney and Clares Queen will no doubt improve on the clock if getting loose, however, she can ill-afford any slip-ups given the calibre of opponent. While Burgess Rapid is the main threat, there was a lot to like about Strideaway Lena last week as she showed electric early pace to nip up the inside of Raha Mofo and she too has claims despite a tricky draw in trap five. In terms of opening sectionals, the 1.28 of Burgess Rapid should see her lead once more but with Raha Mofo likely to step right, and Strideaway Lena going up fast, the race to the bend will prove key in ultimately deciding the outcome of the contest. Throw in the likes of Courty Girl, who is normally very reliable at traprise, and Burgess Senorita, who got into all sorts of trouble last week, and this is a semi final fitting of a decider in itself. Quivers Magic is also worthy of respect. Adam Dunford’s bitch was really eye-catching in following Burgess Rapid home last time out and she is the best drawn bitch in the race in trap one. An eagerly anticipated semi final, the vote goes to Raha Mofo but only just, with Quivers Magic and perhaps Strideaway Lena to advance into the showpiece event in seven days’ time.

MARTHA CAN MAKE AMENDS

In the opening semi final, Pat Buckley is doubly represented by litter sisters Glengar Aurora and Glengar Martha and he will fancy his chances of coming out on top.

The likely favourite, despite suffering an opening round defeat, will be Glengar Martha and she will have benefited greatly from her first race at Limerick last weekend. The daughter of Droopys Sydney and Glengarbadminton previously posted some explosive clocks around the tough Enniscorthy circuit and one suspects it’s just a matter of time before she reproduces those types of performances at Limerick. Drawn in trap four, she will need to be on her toes early on but even a level break can see her emerge victorious. Of her rivals, it is her litter sister, Glengar Aurora, who looks the most likely to get involved. She looked a little lost at times last weekend but she certainly showed glimpses of what she’s about and is much better housed in trap one this time around. Of the others, Cheeky Chloe stayed on well to win her opening round assignment and is again well-drawn in two for Trevor O’Connor, while Una Maachina certainly has the gears but will have to overcome a horrid draw in trap five. Beaming Becca, meanwhile, will be doing her best work late on as arguably the strongest stayer in the field, while Rafas Friend could be the one to fill the podium after her satisfactory first start in four weeks last Saturday night. No doubt she will come on leaps and bounds for that outing and having previously clocked 28.40 one-week prior, connections can be optimistic about their charge making the final.