JELLA DID IT IN STYLE

Peter Farrell

It was one of the flagship meetings at the Brandywell Greyhound Stadium in Derry on Monday night as the final of the Bart Teague Memorial Oaks featured on the card and Do It Jella completed her unbeaten run through the stake with a courageous performance in the final.

Kindly sponsored by Tony Teague of Omagh, this event is always well-received and there was an added incentive in the 2024 renewal with a free service on offer to Drumcrow Darwin in addition to the £700 first prize.

One finalist that has given her connections plenty of thrills in recent weeks was Do It Jella and she came into the decider bidding for her fourth straight victory after steam-rolling her rivals in the earlier rounds. The 6/4 favourite at the off, the final was to prove a much more complex task for ‘Jella’, however, she ultimately ran to a deserved victory.

At traprise, it was Old Fort Lakota that took a flyer from two and she was joined, as expected, in the early exchanges by Do It Jella in six. Little to separate the pair rounding the opener, ‘Jella’ hit the front entering the back straight but she had a serious challenger in the shape of County Song as she showed blistering back straight pace to get to within one length of the favourite. Nip and tuck between the bottom two bends, this contest was still very much up in the air with Rossna Millie also starting to show serious interest after eating into the ground from the halfway mark. However, not to be outdone was Do It Jella as the daughter of Broadstrand Bono and Coolatee Molly showed all of her battling qualities to fend off her numerous rivals and hold on gamely to score. The judge was called into action as Rossna Millie came home with a wet sail but it wasn’t to be for the recent Len McKinney Derby finalist as she went down to a short-head defeat. The time was a brisk time of 27.83.

Indeed, this proved a hugely popular winner for owner Andrew White and her biggest supporter, Parker Friel, who follows this tracker religiously.

As shown below, Parker is pictured receiving the trophy at the presentation.