BONO BACK TO HIS BEST AT LIFFORD

Peter Farrell

Lifford Greyhound Stadium was one of the few tracks to survive the freezing weather conditions on Saturday night and there were some smart performances across the nine-race card, most notably from So Its Bono.

Indeed, despite the adverse weather conditions, the racing surface was in pristine condition and was actually rated ‘fast’ on the night, outlining the terrific work that the maintenance team had done in the days prior. On the night, the feature races were the two semi finals of the Lifford Stadium S3/S4 325 and it was So Its Bono that set the standard with a dominant performance.

Trained by Dessie Kerrigan for Robert Brolly, So Its Bono (Broadstrand Bono - Killanin Laurel) was sent to traps as a 5/2 chance but it was Blue Luna that showed first from trap one to motor up the inside and lead. However, So Its Bono quickly got to work from his outside berth in five and he showed his superiority rounding the bottom two bends. The heavyweight tracker has a rapid 29.10 recorded around the tough Thurles circuit and this was evident on the run for home as he stormed up the hill to stretch into a one and a three quarter length lead. In doing so, he duly recorded a second career win, in a brisk 17.61.

In the second semi, Townsend Swift (5/2) recorded an impressive twelfth victory for Thomas Brennan of Strabane. Quickly into stride from two, ‘Swift’ was joined on the run to the opener by both Armagh Joe Brown and the favourite, Brandywell Hero. The latter narrowly shaded it at this point, however, after both he and ‘Armagh’ came together, Townsend Swift again grabbed the incentive. In doing so, the daughter of Blame The Game and A Wild Weegirl raced to a two and a quarter length victory, in a time of 17.90.

LARGE WINS ON DEBUT

In the curtain raiser, there was a very likeable debut display from the George Hamill-owned Got The Large. Just a July pup, the son of Ballymac Best and Got The Charm was electric at traprise and he soon put the contest to bed on the run to the opening bend. Stretching clear with every stride, the 2/1 chance crossed the line five lengths clear of Beautiful Emma, in a time of 17.90.

MAYO QUICKEST OVER THE STANDARD

Over the standard trip, the quickest performer on the night was Mayo Moonlight who made light work of her A7 contest to ensure she will be keeping much sharper company next time around. A massive 6/1 chance, Austin Maxwell’s charge broke well from four and in doing so, the daughter of Pestana and Te Amo held all the aces from Rains Lightning in second. The leader was never under pressure thereafter as she drew clear of her rivals, before easing to a four and a quarter length win. The time was a decent 29.36.