MONK A STAR IN WAITING
Ian Fortune
There was some superb racing at Shelbourne Park on Tuesday night but the undoubted star of proceedings was Droopys Monk as he produced a massive run to capture the Upcoming TIME Puppy Derby A0 525 in a brilliant 28.12 for owners Graham Ashe and Tommy Kelly.
The Barry Clancy trained son of Signet Ace and Droopys Lois had shown massive promise in the Denis Linehan Solicitors Open Unraced at Cork and in the semi-finals of this competition but his latest effort was a class above anything he had shown before.
Trapping on terms, he quickly moved to the front from an inside draw and put daylight between himself and his rival to halfway. Thereafter, it was all very simple for the young star and he proceeded to see off Zanoosh by six lengths. Should he take his place in the Juvenile Derby, which seems likely, he is most certainly worthy of plenty of respect.
TAYLOR SHOWS HER METAL
There was a tremendous finish to the final of the Barking Buzz App A2 DD (575/600) with Clonbrien Taylor containing the persistent Kilwest Major and Poppy Queen with a most determined display of front-running.
Trained by David Murray for William Delahunty, the daughter of Newinn Taylor and Clonbrien Legend broke best and led the field into the back straight. Kilwest Major was right on her heels and pressed around the last two bends, perhaps going to the front briefly, but Clonbrien Taylor was resolute up front, digging in to hold her rival by a short head in a quick 32.46 for the 600yd trip. Poppy Queen ran on well to finish just a neck away in third.
IM HERE LOOKS SERIOUS
After a monster 28.02 run in the semis, Im Here was a 1-2 chance to win the final of the A2 525 for Aidan Comerford and Peter Cronin.
His chances seemed in serious jeopardy, however, when he walked from traps to sit a bad last into the turn where he also clipped the inside rail.
What was to follow was pretty remarkable. Instead of wallowing at the tail of the field, the hugely promising son of Coolavanny Hoffa and Clona Skye produced a massive run down theback straight to put himself in with a chance.
Max Wago was in front at this point and still running strong but Im Here joined him on the run in. The pair drove to the line with Max Wago rallying but Im Here claimed an unlikely success in 28.87, seeing of his rival by a head. It’s no exaggeration to suggest the winner could be anything in the future. He certainly has a massive engine and it will be interesting to see how he develops.
NO QUIT IN HIGHVIEW
The other final on the card was that of the A5 NB 525 and Highview Quitly did what was needed out front to contain Doctor Dolittle and Consolidation in a good finish.
In front from early, Highview Quitly was under pressure in the second half of the contest with both Doctor Dolittle and Consolidation coming with a rush into the third turn.
The first named was forced to check at this point, handing the initiative back to the early leader. Trained by Gerry Merriman for Dolores Merriman, Highview Quitlystuck on grimly to contain Doctor Dolittle by a neck in 28.90. Consolidation ran another race filled with promise in third, just a half length further back.
TWO POTENTIAL STARS ON SHOW
There was also two notable performances in the tenth race on the card, A3 525, as No Tickets led home Killers King in a very fast 28.25.
The former came out on top, getting to the front early despite taking a bump as he drove inwards from trap four but he needed every inch of his advantage as Killers King displayed awesome pace to emerge from the pack to finish a close second.
The Brendan Collen trained No Tickets emerged a length to the good for the Lord OfThe Rings Syndicate, while the second also went into the notebook after showing astounding pace despite running very wide.