SWEEPSTAKE ACTION APLENTY AT HQ

Ian Fortune

Shelbourne Park offers another tremendous Friday night card this evening with the opening round heats of the hugely valuable This Runs Deep A2 525 and the Retired Greyhound Trust A3 525 making up much of the card.

 

BALE AN EYE-CATCHING ENTRY

There are some promising trackers chasing the €5,000 winner’s purse in the This Runs Deep A2 including recent Champion Open Unraced finalist Greenmount Bale. The powerful son of Magical Bale has his Shelbourne debut in Heat 4 and is likely to appreciate the galloping nature of the Shelbourne circuit.

His task is less than straight forward with the likes of Barefoot Awesome and Point Of Rescue to contend with but Greenmount Bale seems destined for bigger things and is chosen to open his account at the sixth time of asking.

 

DASH CAN PLAY A BIG PART

Good Dash is another that to come out of the Champion Open Unraced and he looks set to play a big part in Heat 5 where promising young sprinter Getup Me Son can emerge as the main danger.

 

TOM TO DOMINATE

Uncle Tom is set to dictate from the early yards in Heat 3. Not the stoutest stayer, he will need to build a clear advantage to the third turn but that looks entirely possible. If he is to falter, Old Chicago and Alva Mist can emerge as big players.

 

REALLY COMPETITIVE RACING EXPECTED

Ballybough Carol just gets the nod in the final heat. In what looks a competitive contest, the Murt Leahy trained bitch can emerge on top if repeating anything close to their best.

Heat 2 is a wide-open affair. Picking a winner with any real confidence is an impossibility but Bristow is selected from a kind draw on the fence. The opening heat looks every bit as open. Much will come down to the battle for early supremacy and for that reason the fast-starting Ballycairn Flash gets the nod.

 

LION HEART CAN PROVE TOO GOOD

Lion Heart is perhaps the most interesting runner in the Retired Greyhound Trust A3 525. A finalist in the Champion Open Unraced, the son of Droopys Sydney and Derby champion Susie Sapphire has shown enough to suggest he will be too good for his rivals in the last of the four heats.