INCREDIBLE STANDARD IN IRISH SPRINT CUP

Ian Fortune

The Bar One Racing Irish Sprint Cup kicked into top gear at Dundalk on Saturday night with three of the four quarter finals breaking the magical 21 second barrier while the other hit the mark on the button.

Each of the four heats were won in superb style but the honour of going fastest went to Road Exile as he continued his unbeaten passage through the classic in the opening heat. He is not the only unbeaten runner in the stake as Who Have I also emerged a comfortable winner.

EXILE BLOWS RIVALS AWAY

Road Exile was in action in the opening heat.

The Pat Buckley trained star has been something of a revelation since stepping down to two bends and a stunning 20.84 run is evidence of his abundant talent.

Richard Colwell’s son of Droopys Sydney and Trusted Exile really did hit the ground running. After a couple of strides he was already in control and he never took his foot off the pedal. Jacktavern Bolt recovered from a slow start to move second into the bend, where he was to remain, but he had no answer to the winner.

Road Exile went on to score by four lengths from Jacktavern Bolt, while Chelms Skippy stayed on strongly to finish third, just a length and a half further back.

WHO HAVE I STAYS UNBEATEN

Who Have I also continued his wining ways in Heat 2, showing great acceleration after a slightly tardy start.

The Michael O’Donovan trained star flew past the fast starting Crafty Bonanza into the turn to put the result beyond doubt.

Crafty Bonanza did stay on well to chase Who Have I home but he was never going to get back on terms. Who Have I, owned by Shane O’Gorman and John Browne, emerged a mighty impressive two and a quarter length scorer over Crafty Bonanza in 20.91.

There was a three lengths gap to third, which was shared between Hawkfield Ava and Rural Taylor. The connections of the two third placed finishers were forced to toss a coin with Hawkfield Ava progressing.

MAGIC MOLLY

Bill Mulholland’s Rathdown Molly returned to her very best to inflict a first defeat on Get It Right in Heat 3.

The brilliant daughter of Droopys Sydney and Some Ginger, who is trained by Marie Gilbert, didn’t fly from traps but did show wonderful acceleration to lead before the corner.

Get It Right missed the start and it took him some time to build up a head of steam. He did move second on the bend but Rathdown Molly seems to relish the long run for home and she kept striding out to emerge a deserving two and a quarter length scorer in a fast 20.94. Third spot went to Ballymac Samuel, just a half length behind the runner-up.

ALDO CONTINUES HIS RISE UP RANKS

Carrick Aldo is very much on an upward curve.

The David Murray trained sprinter just seems to be getting better and better with each outing and there was so much to like about his performance in the last of the four heats.

Thomas Glynn’s son of Droopys Sydney and Minnies Hazel brought his record to five wins from seven starts with a display of both pace and power. He broke smartly but had to really fly into the turn to contain High Trend. Once doing so, he found himself in the perfect position to show his power up the home straight.

He looked every ounce of his 78lb frame as he drove clear up the run in, galloping with real fluency to a comfortable two and a half length victory in 21.00. High Trend was second with Radical Hero qualifying in third a further two lengths back.     

Bar One Racing Irish Sprint Cup

Semi-final draw

Heat 1

1 Who Have I

2 Radical Hero

3 Jacktavern Bolt

4 Carrick Aldo (m)

5 Crafty Bonanza (w)

6 Get It Right (w)

Heat 2

1 Ballymac Samuel

2 Rathdown Molly

3 High Trend

4 Road Exile (m)

5 Hawkfield Ava (w)

6 Chelms Skippy (w)