KEEPERHILL CASHES IN ON KASKO UNRACED AT THURLES
Peter Farrell
Keeperhill Cash had laid siege on the earlier rounds of the Kasko Dog Foods Unraced at Thurles Greyhound Stadium and last night he extended his unbeaten run as he landed the €2,000 to the winner stake in brilliant style.
After landing his opening round assignment in off-the-pace fashion in 29.28 .20s, Keeperhill Cash showed that he is capable of doing it both ways in round two as he blitzed his rivals to score in a blistering 28.80 .20s. A clear outright contender at this point, he came into last night’s Kasko Unraced as the 5/4 favourite to land the spoils and he certainly didn’t disappoint his many followers.
JOHNNY LEADS EARLY
Trained by Babara Rees Jones for Nicholas Colton, Keeperhill Cash was the best drawn dog in the race as the sole wide runner in trap six, however, he could ill-afford any mistakes given the caliber of greyhound in what was a top-class line-up. The talented Johnny The Greek was the other unbeaten runner coming into the decider and as expected, it was Paul Brussell’s charge who took the early proceedings by the scruff of the neck to lead early on.
SITTING DUCK
However, despite Johnny The Greek showing fine early speed to lead into the opening corner, Keeperhill Cash was all the while going about his business on the outside and he swooped around to sit just three parts of a length adrift of Johnny The Greek upon entrance to the back straight. At this point, it was a further four lengths back to Any Other News in third place. The battle was on up front between Johnny The Greek and Keeperhill Cash but the latter, a strong running sort, ranged alongside the early leader within a matter of strides and took charge of the contest midway down the back. Cutting the nose off Johnny The Greek at the penultimate turn, which forced him to check, Keeperhill Cash quickly established a three length advantage over his rivals and he was well on his way to securing a third straight victory. Setting a blistering gallop to the winning line, the son of Confident Rankin and Work The Head stormed across the line to seal a four and a half length victory over the gallant Johnny The Greek in second, while Any Other News ran on well for third. Another excellent renewal of the Kasko Dog Foods Unraced at Thurles Park, the time was a brilliant 28.93 .20s and many thanks are once again extended to Kasko for their continued sponsorship of the event.
BISON SHINES
Elsewhere on the card, there was a sparkling display in the concluding race of the night as Bull Run Bison, a recent second in the RCETS A3/A4 525 at Thurles, produced a career best clock.
Owned by Doireann Quinlan, Bull Run Bison showed bags of ability in the aforementioned RCETS stake and he delivered another masterclass last night to post the quickest time of the night. A November son of Magical Bale and Bull Run Banter, Bull Run Bison had to settle for second place early on as Its My Mystery took a flier from trap one. However, the complexion of the race changed down the back as Bull Run Bison stormed past the leader and he soon put daylight between himself and Its My Mystery in second. Clearly on course for a big clock, the talented 2/1 chance drew clear of his rivals to cross the line with six lengths in hand, in a terrific 28.78 .20s.