Hi °C | Lo °C While the established stars will continue their battle for the SIS Live Gold Cup at Shelbourne tomorrow, some budding young greyhounds will command a lot of attention over the next number of weeks, as they produce the fireworks at Tralee and Limerick.
Tralee's GMHD Juvenile Classic has earned a reputation in recent years as a breeding ground for future champions.
This evening's first round features a number of racing debutants that have shown immense promise in their qualifying outings.
In all, 57 pups will begin their careers and one that really catches the eye is the Pat Buckley-trained Paradise Silva, which is owned by the Paradise Madison team of Dave Buckley and Sean Meade.
This son of Hondo Black and Dalcash Diva has clocked 28.78 at Shelbourne and 28.51 around Tralee in trials and will be strongly fancied to win Heat 3.
Sponsor Denis Murphy has an interesting contender in Dromore Maeve, a daughter of a previous finalist in this stake, Graigues Toss. Her 28.89 run was mighty impressive and she can lead home Gavins Legacy in the opening heat. Owen McKenna has a strong team in the event and his Farloe Calvin goes in the second heat with every chance of making a winning debut.
The New Inn handler has another very useful-looking sort, South Armagh, in Heat 4, but there is a formidable rival here in the classically bred Skywalker Jet.
Local handler Moss O'Connor thinks a fair bit of Deerfield Lloyd, which runs in Heat 7, though he faces a major threat in Buckley's Willow Man.
Entries for the €80,000 Con & Annie Kirby Memorial Puppy Stake will close at 6.0 this evening at Limerick. The number of entries hit the mid-70 mark yesterday morning.
Best bets
RUN SAMSON RUN has already recorded seven wins around Harold's Cross and he looks set to add to that tally in the A1 550 (9.55) this evening.
After some fine displays in top company around Shelbourne Park in recent weeks, he seems to have been eased in grade and can dominate from the start.
Martin Murray's CLONKEEN SPOT was a real eye-catcher on his latest start when flying home. He lines up in the black jacket in the A3 525 (8.40) and may have too much ammunition for the rest.
