DROOPYS POLISH THE VALUE PICK IN LAURELS DECIDER
Barry Drake
All roads lead to Curraheen Park tonight for the €30,000 to the winner Bar One Racing in association with the Friends & Supporters of Cork Greyhound Racing Irish Greyhound Laurels.
In truth, it looks a wide-open contest and a chance is worth taking with the big local runner, Droopys Polish, who is drawn on the fence for Blarney trainer Johnny Linehan. Owned by the Boys-Are-Back-In-Town-Syndicate, the pacey lady ran a remarkable race in the semi-finals, showing real pace late on to finish second behind Romeo Taylor, only beaten two lengths, in 28.41.
She doesn't have to improve much to win and with the rails pitch to help, she's a real player. Bookmakers made a mistake putting her in at 10-1 after the semi finals and at around half those odds now, she's still value to win the feature final. A previous 28.25 winner around course and distance when drawn in red, everything points towards a big run and there's no doubt she will need to be foot perfect to score, however, in such an open contest, the daughter of Droopys Sydney has to be the value pick.
LEADING PLAYER
Romeo Taylor, trained by Graham Holland for owner David Firmager, is another leading player. Impressive when winning his semi-final heat, in 28.41, the super-talented tracker has a great draw in trap two and he has the speed to go well. Leading early is key to his chances and from the draw, he looks certain to make a bold bid.
REALLY CAUGHT THE EYE
Crafty Shivoo, trained by Pat Norris for M W D Partnership, has really caught the eye in recent runs, delivering some top-class performances. One of the leading fancies in the line-up, she will need to do everything right from trap four.
DON'T RULE OUT
Of the others, don't rule Hazelhill Bucko out. Trained by young trainer Lucy Roche, Bucko can go well from the outside of the track and looks overpriced in the betting market.
SUPER TALENTED SORTS
The Paul Hennessy trained Seek The Kingdom and High Trend, defending Champion, are other super talented sorts and they can deliver big performances.
NAP MATERIAL
The Other Kobe rates nap material in race number eight. Graham Holland's runner was unlucky to be knocked out in the semi-finals and he can quickly bounce back to winning ways in this. With not a lot of opposition for the lead early, the nap selection should be in front early and it should be all one-way traffic up front.
TOO STRONG
The Paul Hennessy-trained Dynamic Force should prove too strong in the final of the Bart Leahy Memorial. In superb form in recent weeks, he has bundles of speed and with a clear run, he should prove a class apart.
The Vincent McKenna trained Crockers Sydney and the Declan McDonagh trained Batting Yank are other leading players.
BACK-TO-BACK
Aherla Rocco can make it back-to-back winning performances in race number 10 for Jerome Crowley. That was a fantastic effort last week and he stands out once more.
RETURN TO WINNING FORM
Tribal Syd, Laurels favourite at one time, should return to winning form in race five. The Murt Leahy-trained runner will prove popular in the betting market. The Pat Kiely-trained Droopys Carbine is well drawn next to the rails and he is next best in that line-up.
**** This year, we are delighted to welcome Virgin Media to Curraheen Park who will be broadcasting some great racing on TV for us. For those of you who can’t make it to the track. The programme starts at 9pm on Virgin Two.