GREYHOUNDS | Big weekend of finals at Dundalk Stadium

Racegoers have no less than three finals to look forward to at Dundalk Stadium at the weekend.

Most interest will centre on Friday’s Open Sprint, which features a mouth-watering clash between Ballymac Bigmike and Knight Emperor.

Ballymac Big Mike is warming up for the defence of his Bar One Racing Irish Sprint Cup title, while Knight Emperor will be one of his biggest challengers in the classic which gets underway next month.

In last week’s semi-finals, Ballymac Bigmike won in 21.19, after Knight Emperor successfully went around in 21.24.

The other heat was taken by Raise A Glass in 21.75, leaving the Co Wexford runner with a bit to find on the principals. In addition to Knight Emperor, Navan trainer, Ollie Bray, has also qualified Thinly Veiled for the decider.

Open Sprint Final

1 Thinly Veiled, 2 Knight Emperor, 3 Rathnasare Champ (m), 4 Ballymac Bigmike (m), 5 Raise A Glass (m), 6 Milldean Gem (w).

Meanwhile, Lordship-based handler Peter Noone is represented in each of the Dundalk Lighting A4 525 final and Park Café A3 525 final on Saturday. He has Blindside in the former, and Wee Man in the other stake.

Also through in the Dundalk Lighting competition is Fine Captain, the property of Eugene and Owenie Duffy, Ardee.

Dundalk Lighting A4 525 final

1 Fine Captain, 2 Full On, 3 Spot The Star, 4 Blindside, 5 Catunda Eva, 6 Camilo.

Park Café A3 525 final

1 Ennafort Ace, 2 Wee Man, 3 Greenane Glory, 4 Nushkas Premier, 5 Fatboyz Lily, 6 Killiecrankie (w).

Francie Murray, whose kennel is in Crookedwood, Mullingar, is the trainer of Full On and Killiecrankie, who, along with Horlicks, provided him with a treble last Saturday.

The same card produced a milestone victory for Furiously Fast in the second race. She is the first greyhound owned by Master Niall Delaney, Dundalk, and was getting off the mark at the sixth attempt, when beating Lolos Versaci by three-quarters of a length in 29.58.

Killure King, owned by Dowdallshill’s Pat and Matthew Loftus and Drogheda’s Michael Tiernan, who form the Bed To Work Syndicate, was cheered home with gusto in the tenth. He scored by one-and-three-quarter lengths in 21.56.

On Friday, the Bcomes Syndicate, Corduff, Carrickmacross, and trainer, Laurence Jones struck with debutant Dodgin Bullet. He did it impressively by over six lengths in 28.63.

Later, the final of the Dundalk Stadium Open Bitch 525 went to 7/4 favourite Canyar (28.57) and her Oldcastle connections, Jamie and ‘Ginger’ McGee.

Saturday’s meeting, June 17th, is a fundraiser for Geraldines GFC.

Greyhound Results

Friday, June 9th

Race 1: String Of Pearls won in 28.59 for Michael Flynn (Carbury), Race 2: Billis Glitter won in 29.00 for Edward McQuade and Navan trainer Ian Reilly, Race 3: Dodgin Bullet won in 28.63 for Bcomes-Syndicate and Carrickmacross trainer Laurence Jones, Race 4: Lolos Frampton won in 28.74 for Ronnie Craven (Dublin), Race 5: Madabout Bella won in 28.58 for The-Three-D-Amigos-Syndicate and Armagh trainer Sean Devlin, Race 6: Canyar won in 28.57 for Jamie McGee and Oldcastle trainer John McGee, Race 7: Abbylea Mary Ann won in 29.15 for Arthur Ryan and Maureen Finnegan and Swords trainer Maureen Finnegan, Race 8: Brides Honey won in 28.62 for Mark Geraghty and Larry Clancy and Navan trainer Oliver Bray, Race 9: Raise A Glass won in 21.75 for The-N-Twenty-Five-Syndicate c/o Brendan Murphy, Race 10: Knight Emperor won in 21.24 for owner/trainer Oliver Bray (Navan), Race 11: Ballymac Bigmike won in 21.19 for Christy and Denise Mahon and Rathangan trainer Robert G Gleeson.

Saturday, June 10th

Race 1: Moss Spirit won in 21.68 for owner/trainer Brian Robinson (Coalisland), Race 2: Furiously Fast won in 29.58 for Niall Delaney (Dundalk), Race 3: Nine To Five won in 21.64 for Michael Burke (Armagh), Race 4: Catunda Matthew won in 28.89 for Michael Byrne (Dublin), Race 5: Spot The Star won in 29.17 for Noel Gaffney and Skerries trainer Larry Gaffney, Race 6: Full On won in 29.06 for Howard Wallace and Crookedwood trainer Francis Murray, Race 7: Drumna Storm won in 21.51 for Kurtis Bain and Hillsborough trainer Ronnie McKeown, Race 8: Killiecrankie won in 28.46 for Howard Wallace and Crookedwood trainer Francis Murray, Race 9: Ennafort Ace won in 29.03 for Jerry Daly (Lusk), Race 10: Killure King won in 21.56 for Bed-To-Work-Syndicate (c/o Michael Tiernan), Race 11: Horlicks won in 30.13 for Howard Wallace and Crookedwood trainer Francis Murray, Race 12: Mullaca Sport won in 28.69 for Morris and Graeme Torrance and Navan trainer Ian Reilly.