Stephen Stokes, Tipperary Town is the new name on the Roll of Honour for the Sporting Press Fantasy Coursing competition. In what was one of the most exciting finishes to the competition in it’s 29 year history, Stephen came from a nice bit off the pace to claim victory in the very last course of the season. Although he had both finalists in the Irish Cup he needed Gigantor (pictured) to claim the all important 100 points.
Coming away from Patrickswell on Sunday we knew that two of the selections we had previewed for the Sporting Press before the Irish Cup were probably in the money. Eddie Breen, Dundrum, Tipperary was the highest placed on the leaderboard with Gigantor so he was gone to 895 points. We also knew that Dan O’Donoghue, Millstreet, had risen to 900 points courtesy of Ballymac Zena. However what we didn’t know until we pushed the button on Monday morning to update results was if anyone close enough to Eddie & Dan had both Gigantor & Ballymac Zena. It turns out there was someone because our revised leaderboard now showed Stephen Stokes on 915 points and the winner of our first prize of €4000. Dan will receive €1250 and €500 goes to Eddie.
In our separate Fantasy Coursing for Charity competition Ballymac Zena ensured that David McGrath, Balscadden would stay in front to claim the €1000 for his chosen charity. This prize is very kindly sponsored by an anonymous friend of coursing.
Sincere thanks to everyone who took part in both competitions. We are looking forward to our 30th Fantasy Coursing competition already and of course now is the time to make note of the greyhounds which caught your eye as potential Champion Stakes & Irish Cup winners for next season.