CLAN SAPPHIRE SELECTED FOR CORK OAKS SUCCESS

Barry Drake

The final of the €7,500 to the winner of the SSO Personnel Cork Oaks is the feature at Curraheen Park tonight, and it promises to be a terrific contest.

Laurels Champion and Christmas Oaks winner Magical On Fire will have plenty of supporters, and there's no doubt she has massive claims. No stranger to big performances around here, she looked in trouble early on last week, but she found a way to win in 28.34. The Pat Guilfoyle-trained runner is the quickest in the line-up; however, she will need to come away well, and it's a tricky enough draw in trap four. Drawn outside her, in trap five, the Jennifer O'Donnell trained The Other Eimear will be moving inwards early, and that's not ideal.

Bombay Special, trained by Graham Holland for Jack Ryan, has a fantastic make-up out wide, and she's a huge player. The sole seeded runner clocked 28.01 in the opening round, and if she reproduces that, she will be hard to beat. She didn't break as well last week, but she ran a cracker behind Clan Sapphire, two and a half lengths back, in 28.36.

Clan Sapphire, trained by Francis Murray for Howard Wallace, lands the narrow vote to land the spoils. Three wins from just four career outings, she impressed on Laurels final night and clocked a career best of 28.36 last week. The fast-starting lady is still improving, and from the rails pitch, she looks capable of slipping around in front, and she should be hard to catch. It's a wide-open contest, and we will take a chance with the best drawn runner.

Cobh trainer Dean Harpur is represented with three of the six finalists in the final of the Curraheen Park Supporters Club A1 stake. All three have claims, but Ballycowen Daisy looks the one to be on. A 28.71 winner last week, the selection is fancied to make all the running. Harpur’s Ballycowen's Moon is another with real pace. If he can improve in the trapping department, he looks capable of going very quick and he's the obvious danger.

There's plenty of early pace in the final of the Irish Retired Greyhound Trust A5, and Paul Keniry's Only Saint is most likely to win that early battle. The flying starter is in the form of her last life, and with one of her quickest starts, she could well make all the running.

The nap selection comes in the closing race as the Graham Holland-trained Swords Style can send punters home on a high. The super-talented tracker has won 12 of his 20 career starts, and he has the early speed to dominate from start to finish in this. It's a big drop in class, and it really should be all one-way traffic up front.

The opening round of the Dynamic Force @ Stud A2/A3 Bitch Stake is another huge attraction on the card. In the third heat, Danish Bubble is a very interesting runner for trainer Graham Holland and owners the Slattery Family Syndicate. A recent 17.65 spin around the 330 yards suggests there is a big run on the cards. Ardrath Ali, trained by John Kiely for Richenda Kelly, should also be in the mix. She has plenty of big runs in the book around here, and she should be in the mix throughout in this.

Curraheen Park selection for Saturday

Race 1: Only Saint (Rafas Best)

Race 2: Tokenfire Bono (Beanos Rodge)

Race 3: Ballycowen Daisy (Snazzy Boss)

Race 4: Gowlane Trend (Lulu Baby Shark)

Race 5: Blastoff Music (Millridge Bonnie)

Race 6: Danish Bubble (Ardrath Ali)

Race 7: Imokilly Roxanne (Gaytime Susie)

Race 8: Knockacrump Bell (Ballinveala Jen)

Race 9: Clan Sapphire (Bombay Special)

Race 10: Swords Style (Nap) (Timmys Bucks)