KANE AND KING TO REMAIN UNBEATEN AT ENNISCORTHY

Ian Fortune

Enniscorthy will open their doors for the penultimate time ahead of Christmas this evening with the semi-finals of the Lord Open Unraced the undoubted feature of a card packed with sweepstake action.

Richard Colwell’s Glengar Kane has been the undoubted star of the competition after setting the standard in each of the three rounds to date and he can continue his march through the valuable stake in the second semi-final.

Drawn in three, the son of Grangeview Ten has almost six lengths in hand on the clock and need only hit the ground running and he will likely emerge on top. His all-round pace is superior to that of his rivals and the Pat Buckley trained star can emerge a comfortable winner once again.

Of his rivals, his kennel companion Deerjet Matilda has a favourable draw on the fence but looks held after finishing over seven lengths behind the likely hot favourite last week. Rapido Ivy ran out a good winner last week, leading from the turn to score in 29.36 but she will need to go faster this evening.

Instead, Karlow Flame is selected to chase home Glengar Kane. He has yet to finish in the top two but has shown ability and with a clear passage from five could certainly get involved.

KING CAN DICTATE AGAIN

The opening heat is a fascinating affair.

Seamount King is defending an unbeaten record from three and looks the most likely pace-setter but he can’t afford any mistakes with Bombay Hawk, Elite Blastoff and Ballymac Kandoo all waiting in the wings should he make any mistakes.

Seamount King has tremendous early speed and is the most likely pace-setter for Eoin Mullins. If repeating his second round 28.79 return, he will prove a difficult not to crack. Elite Blastoff is improving all the time and was only a neck behind Seamount King last week. He can again push his rival hard and is selected as the main threat ahead of Bombay Hawk. The action from Enniscorthy gets underway at 8pm and there is a ten-race card in the offing.