Surely the sign of a coursing superstar must be when the bookmakers will not engage in short odds betting on your courses (against very decent opposition) but instead offer odds on whether you will go under or over a certain clock. Such was the case for both of Watchman’s courses today at the Irish Cup and those punters who went for ‘under’ were cheering the loudest as the reigning champion recorded two identical clocks of 10.96. Just for the record, his three flags so far this weekend have been against Outoftheshadow which won his two courses in the Irish Purse today, Smokey Harvey which enjoyed a very easy success in the Irish Plate RD1 and Boylesportsmagic which we all acknowledge is a top class pup. We may be only halfway but already this has all the hallmarks of one of the all time great performances in an Irish Cup.

None of the above however should take from the other seven runners who have reached the quarter-final stage of the 2019 Irish Cup. There is no huge surprise amongst them and Leading Hand was the biggest price ante-post at 25/1.

The decision by the Purtill family not to go back to slips with Ballinveala Toro in the second round of the Derby is certainly paying off and he has replicated that strong showing at Powerstown Park in each of his three runs here this weekend. He now meets the second season Central Rocker who is the latest in a long line of greyhounds to bring East Donegal form into the third day of an Irish Cup.  Remember his dam won the Select Bitch Stake here twice and in the first of those she beat Duchess (dam of Rumour Has It) in the final.

When Part Exchange exited the 2018 Derby at the semi-final stage (after leading for most of the way) it was very much expected that he would win multiple Cups in his second season. That didn’t happen but his performances here this weekend make it all the more harder to understand. A bye course this afternoon will be a huge help to his chances of overturning the aforementioned Watchman tomorrow morning but it is still a mammoth task.

Very often we see pups returning to win Cups at the same venue as they won their trial stake 12 months earlier. So ‘horses for courses’ works for greyhounds too and we shouldn’t be one bit surprised to see 2018 Irish Cup runner-up Always Inthe Run still in contention. Indeed tomorrow he will occupy the very same position as 12 months ago, running from the red collar in the third quarter-final. Can he emulate Drive On Smokey which reached consecutive  finals in 2016 & 2017 ?. He meets the big local hope Faha Razor, owned by the Mann family who are synonymous with Co Limerick Coursing Club. He has rewarded the decision of the Irish Cup selection committee to give him a wild card entry by producing three great runs over the last two days. A heavy tumble in the third round could come against him but that remains to be seen.

In our Sporting Press Formguide we mentioned that on a line with Incorruptiblemen there would be very little between Leading Hand and this season’s Derby winner. Therefore the presence of Leading Hand, a son of Oaks winner Dale Roisin, in tomorrow’s fourth quarter-final is a great boost to Clonmel form and indeed he looks capable of enhancing the form even further. He meets another pup, Skellig Skinner, who represents 2017 Irish Cup winning connections, and is doing his own bit for Clonmel 2019 form where he bowed out to Boylesportsmagic & Wi Can There. Both these pups took on and beat more fancied opponents today so well deserve to be returning for Day 3.

Of course no report from Patrickswell today would be complete without a mention of Silent Wonder in the Patsy Byrne Select Bitch Stake. Those of us who thought Catch Kazuri might lead her out of slips were very badly mistaken and like Watchman she gave the performance of a true champion. Certainly though there was much to like also about the way Central Maid (litter sister to Central Rocker) and Cobra Angel ran today and if the favourite’s disrupted preparation since Abbeyfeale comes against her, either of those are capable of taking advantage.

The Bill Chawke Irish Plate cut up a little this afternoon with three byes but is still ultra competitive. Bookmakers will probably put up the two third season runners Post Graduate & Ballygerald Buzz as their favorites tomorrow morning. An equal number of pups and All Ages remain in contention for the Woodlands House Hotel Irish Purse and whilst Kyle Steel is still the one to beat there is not a huge gap between his clocks and those of his opposition with Souldern Street another to catch the eye in RD2.

Coursing was most enjoyable again today and the hares which came out for the Irish Cup in particular were top of the range. Day 3 commences at the later time of 11.30am but get there early as the bookies are certain to be offering a huge range of trebles & accumulators. Those holding the dockets with the Watchman & Silent Wonder doubles might start buying the drinks early tonight expecting a certain payout but as is often said, ‘The greatest certainty in coursing is the uncertainty’.

Clocks & Betting in Quick Results.

Following an opening day of very few shocks (perhaps just Kyle Steel in Irish Cup and Share The Dream in Select Bitch Stake) those holding betting dockets on the Watchman – Silent Wonder double will be very pleased. Defending champion Watchman gave a faultless display in the first round of the Irish Cup and not only was he the only greyhound to break 11 seconds today but he did so by 14 spots. To this observer Silent Wonder was unsighted for much of her course in the Patsy Byrne Select Bitch Stake but her clock of 11.01 was only bettered today by Watchman. Coincidentally that time of 11.01 was matched by Clondoty Tom running in the Kyle Invitational Champion Working Members Stake and 45 minutes later he did 11.14 in the second round.

Back to the Irish Cup and besides Watchman the other stand-out performances came today from Part Exchange (11.04), Smokey Harvey (11.12), Ballygerald Buzz (11.18), Never A Lie (11.11) and Oaks heroine Ballymac Enya (11.16). Unfortunately for the first three named they are in the same second quarter as Watchman. Enya’s success was welcomed by all neutrals in attendance and her participation has added great excitement to the event. In her fourth quarter also is Kevin Smith Champion Stakes winner Ahamore Wonder and after a tardy start he showed a terrific burst of pace to get up in a short slip. Never A Lie does indeed appear to be a very decent pup and has narrowed to 5/1 second favourite. His biggest danger in the third quarter could be last season’s runner-up Always Inthe Run which showed all of his old sparkle today. With Kyle Steel eliminated the first quarter has really opened up and connections of all eight remaining will fancy their chances of a quarter-final appearance. Ballinveala Toro v Long John Silver should be a thriller in the morning.

It will be interesting to see how Silent Wonder handles the early pace of Catch Kazuri tomorrow morning but otherwise the top half is probably at her mercy. Central Maid had a tougher first round than anticipated and Deja Vu could now be the one to progress to the semi-final. The second round course between Cobra Angel & Lakeside Pearl could decide the bottom half but with Share The Dream gone it really is all to play for. Her nemesis Heart Over Mind may even cause a few more upsets between now and Sunday afternoon.

Coursing was of a very high standard today, especially after the interval, so the message is to get to Patrickswell tomorrow and Sunday because greyhounds like Watchman, Ballymac Enya & Silent Wonder don’t come around very often.

See Quick Results for Clocks & Prices

The following is the draw for the Woodlands House Hotel Irish Purse, with the first round on Saturday before the interval.

Boys Brigade v Roquefort Teddy
Five Dreams v Mingdrum Tank
Eoin Abu v Outoftheshadow
Tin Man v Lone Rocket

Chance Me Alonso v Freestone Hill
Honey Smokey v Somelittlerazor
Downunder wonder v Durango Johnny
Fidget Spinner v Cuine Edge

Kyle Steel v Electric Mayhem
Oakview Wave v Barrack Ricky
Key Ball v Onlinesearch
Granard Flash v Cobra Commander (Doubtful)

Please Harry v Souldern Street
Rockanes Steel v Party Wonder
Marshals Cross v Barrack Jackie
Thats My Man v Boyneside Buster

Reserves: Clash Bruno, Dresden Vale, Steady Rise, Yippee Assassin, Wiseguy Ally.

NON-RUNNERS
No 42 Swanky Wonder will be a non-runner in the 3rd quarter of the Irish Cup. He was due to meet Faha Razor.

ORDER OF RUNNING 
Irish Cup Meeting
Friday, Saturday, Sunday 22^nd, 23^rd & 24^th February
Judge: Paul Horan; Slipper: Richard Quinn jnr
Start 11.00am on Friday/Saturday and 11.30am Sunday
Friday: First round Irish Cup. Interval. First round Kyle Champion Working Members Stake, First round Patsy Byrne Select Bitch Stake, Second round Kyle Champion Working Members Stake.
Saturday: Second round Irish Cup & First round Woodlands House Hotel Irish Purse. Interval. Third round Irish Cup, Second round Patsy Byrne Select Bitch Stake, Second round Woodlands House Hotel Irish Purse, First round Bill Chawke Irish Plate.
Sunday: Start with Kyle Champion Working Members Stake, Earl Of Dunraven Kilgobbin Puppy Stake, Patsy Byrne Select Bitch Stake, Woodlands House Hotel Irish Purse, Bill Chawke Irish Plate, Irish Cup.

One of the highlights of the 2018/19 coursing season was the performance of Silent Wonder in the Corn Na Feile All Age after Christmas. Often the All Age event at Abbeyfeale can be overshadowed by the two Corn Na Feile puppy events but on this occasion it has to be said that the Silent bitch almost stole the thunder of Picture House & Newinn Fifi. Indeed her presence over the two days was in no small way responsible for a record attendance. Unfortunately she suffered a toe injury which kept her out of the Champion Bitch Stake but Clonmel’s loss is Co Limerick’s gain and no one will be leaving the racecourse on Friday before she goes upfield in the first round of the Patsy Byrne Select Bitch Stake. In her opening course she meets the Brendan Matthews trained pup Foxhollow Darkie which gave Newinn Fifi a scare in the second round of the Oaks and then next up could be the very early paced pup Catch Kazuri. However should everything be ok with Silent Wonder she will progress to the latter stages with ease and is priced a very short 1/1 with the bookmakers.

Second favourite at 5/1 is the treble Cup winner Share The Dream. This lady arrived in Clonmel under a cloud and connections were thrilled with the way she performed, keeping the outstanding winner Blades Of Honour to a length in their semi-final. The word is that she has come out of Clonmel very well and is ready to do battle this weekend. A danger lurking in this fourth quarter is Cobra Angel (10/1). These two ladies had a thrilling buckle in Johnstown & Urlingford with Share The Dream only getting up late to win by half a length.

One that catches the eye in the first quarter is the 8/1 shot Central Maid.  Not only do the Centrals have a very good record in this event but this lady ran exceptionally well here 12 months ago, bowing out to eventual winner Mad Decision, in the semi-final. In her three outings this season she has performed with distinction. Kingdom Cup winner Ballymac Meena is the obvious danger although her RD1 opponent Deja Vu is a lot better than what we saw in the Oaks earlier in the month.

That leaves us with the third quarter and similar to the third quarter in the Irish Cup it is wide open. Ballymac Ismay which was withdrawn from the second round of the Oaks is the shortest priced in this quarter at 8/1 followed at 10/1 by Karasova & Elegant Wonder which made early exits in the Oaks at the paws of Sminky Star and Newinn Fifi respectively. Karasova was subsequently withdrawn from the Kitty Butler Stakes and Elegant Wonder bowed out narrowly to the eventual winner Laurina. So whilst these pups still have to prove that they are up to this level they do appear marginally stronger than the others in the quarter and Elegant Wonder might be the one to come through.

Central Maid, Silent Wonder, Elegant Wonder & Share The Dream are our selections for the Select and no doubt the final that all neutrals are hoping for is Silent Wonder v Share The Dream. The Irish Cup may have to play second fiddle to the ladies if that final pairing comes off.   

Wow is the best way to describe the reaction to the draw for the 2019 Irish Cup which was made on Sunday night. Coursing enthusiasts are now counting down the days and hours to Friday when the first round of Ireland’s oldest coursing classic will take place at Limerick racecourse, commencing at 11.00am sharp. Friday’s programme will also include the first round of the equally interesting Patsy Byrne Select Bitch Stake and two rounds of the Kyle Invitational Champion Working Members Stake.

Back to the Irish Cup and it is indicative of the high esteem in which he is held that defending champion Watchman (pictured) is a clear 4/1 favourite with BoyleSports to become the first greyhound since Lusty More in 1975/76 to do the two-in-a-row. Once again he will arrive at Patrickswell on the back of a much talked about early exit at the National meeting and connections & supporters will be holding their breath until he comes up-field in his opening buckle. Adding intrigue to that first round buckle is the fact that himself & Outoftheshadow were kennel mates until midway through the season.  That second quarter also includes recent Derby ante-post favourite Boylesportsmagic (8/1) and the course between Part Exchange & Cobra Commander (both 12/1) could be one of the highlights of Day 1.

We have to go back to 1992 in the famous Charity Meadows of Clounanna to find the last bitch winner of the Irish Cup and much further again most likely to find the last time an Oaks winner even contested an Irish Cup in the same season as her Clonmel success. Ballymac Enya is a 12/1 chance to bring off a historic victory and will certainly add huge excitement to proceedings on Friday. Liam Dowling is to be applauded for this sporting move but Rockanes Steel won’t make things easy for Enya in the first round.  Kevin Smith Champion Stakes winner Ahamore Wonder is also drawn in that same section and perhaps the Galvin family owned brindle represents better value at 14/1.

There weren’t too many hard luck stories from this year’s National Meeting but one of them certainly was Ballinveala Toro. Vincent Purtill’s runner was starting to catch the eye in very pleasing fashion when the hare drifted right towards the end of his Derby second round course. Both dogs lost sight, resulting in a back to slips decision. No doubt the Irish Cup was at the back of their minds when connections decided to withdraw and he has been installed at 10/1 to succeed here. There is nothing easy about the first quarter though and Kyle Steel (10/1) & Long John Silver (14/1) are just two of the dangers lurking in that 16.

Initial impressions are that the third quarter is the easier of the four but trying to pick the winner of it is a different story.  The pup Never A Lie arrived at Powerstown Park with much confidence behind him and his exit on the second morning was one of the shocks of the Derby. He is best priced now at 10/1 to show why he was so highly thought of. His Clonmel conqueror Somelittlerazor is also in this quarter as is the 2018 Irish Cup runner-up Always Inthe Run and the highly talented trio of Roquefort Teddy, Swanky Wonder & Colossal Image. 

Without any doubt we should be much wiser after the first round but in the meantime the excitement mounts and all roads lead to Limerick racecourse on Friday for the 110th running of the Irish Cup, first hosted by Co Limerick CC 114 years ago.

(Tomorrow we will look at the field for the Patsy Byrne Select Bitch Stake).      

Despite being as low as 10/1 in the Ante-Post betting market, only four of the 189 competitors in our ICC website Tipster Competition went for ‘Rumour Has It’ to win the BoyleSports Derby. 25 participants included Oaks winner ‘Ballymac Enya’ in their selection, Champion Bitch, ‘Blades Of Honour’, (in photo) was chosen by 38% of the total entry (71 selections) but Champion Dog, Ahamore Wonder, had just four votes with his first round opponent Watchman receiving the lions share.

Similar to last year no one managed to tip more than two winners although Darragh Sheehan (Tralee), John Kennedy (Newcastlewest) & Liam Liddy (Ballysimon) came very close to making it three as they had Huntingtown with Ballymac Enya/Blades Of Honour. However the current rules of the competition don’t allow points for runners-up although it is something we might look at doing for next year.

Therefore we have 16 people tied on 40 points. The aforementioned trio plus Conor O’Neill (Clonakilty), Eddie Kelly (Templetuohy), Gerard Flynn (Belfast), Jay Codd (Enniscorthy), Joe Collins (Abbeyfeale), John Grace (Shannon), Margaret Barrett (Fethard), Martin Ryan (Thurles), Mary Wilson (Johnstown), Mats Wicander (Sweden), Noel Hehir (Ennis), Pat Sutton (Kildare) and Tom Nolan (Abbeyfeale).       

We have decided to make the draw for our winner during the first interval on the final day of the Irish Cup meeting, at Berkie Browne’s board. All are welcome to observe.

The winner will have a choice of two tickets to the ICC Awards on April 13 including overnight Hotel accommodation or a 12-month subscription to the Sporting Press.

• 25 points were awarded for picking the winner of the Derby or Oaks and 15 points for picking the winner of the Champion Stakes or Champion Bitch Stakes.

Sean Doyle from Ennis has been a great supporter of the Sporting Press Fantasy Coursing competition over the years and usually is never far away from the business end of things. Once again this season his name figured prominently on the leader-board from early on. However even he must have had some regrets about including Ahamore Wonder (pictured) in his selections when it came to mid-December and the Lixnaw greyhound had only five Fantasy points amassed for reaching the semi-final in Edenderry. Few would have predicted that within the next seven weeks he would win two Cups, a Kevin Smith Champion Stakes and bring his Fantasy points total to 185. His success at Clonmel on Tuesday coupled with that of Blades Of Honour propels Sean into the lead on 810 points with the Irish Cup & Select Bitch Stakes yet to come. Last season’s winning score was 805 and we have to go back to Marie Field in 2010/11 to find a higher one (840 points). Luckily for John Maher he had three Champion Stakes semi-finalists (Long John Silver, Shine A Diamond & Share The Dream) as well as the Grace & Matt Bruton Champion Stakes heroine so he stays very much in touch with Sean and possibly pinning his hopes on Kyle Steel in Patrickswell. John Healy of Killaoe had a very good Clonmel too, picking up 190 points thanks to the aforementioned Blades Of Honour, Long John Silver & Share The Dream but also the Kevin Smith Champion Stakes runner-up Granard Bolt.

Our Fantasy Coursing for Charity competition has really tightened up with now only five points separating the top three. Brian Arnold had the best Clonmel as Blades Of Honour is in his team but by picking up 40 points with two semi-finalists each, Mary Nolan & Frank Kieran have hung on resolutely to their lead.

The Galway Shawl & The Rose of Tralee will be sung with gusto tonight following the terrific victories at Powerstown Park today of Rumour Has It (in BoyleSports Derby) and Ballymac Enya (in Horse & Jockey Hotel Oaks). The Rose will be sung twice as often because the Kevin Smith Champion Stakes also headed to Kerry thanks to Ahamore Wonder. Not content with the Liam McCarthy Cup , Limerick now has the Grace & Matt Bruton Champion Bitch Stake trophy too, courtesy of Blades Of Honour. Co Laois does not feature on the honours board at Clonmel very often but the trophy for the Dublin Coach Kitty Butler Stakes is in Portlaoise tonight after Laurina came out best in the closest final of the meeting. As for Sweden, they may have won many Eurovision Song Contests but it is highly unlikely that they ever won a Stockproof Fencing Products TA Morris Stakes before Wi Can There gave Lars & Mats Wicander a day to remember in Clonmel this afternoon. Finally, not to be outdone it was a Clareman, Joe Kelly, who had the honour of singing the National Anthem before the finals of the 94th National Coursing Meeting.

Just a few weeks short of 12 months since they celebrated winning an Irish Cup, Bernie & Basil Holian and trainer Kevin Barry are now the proud owners of a BoyleSports Irish Coursing Derby winner also. Rumour Has It had many battles to overcome over the three days, not least in RD1 when he found himself a few lengths behind at halfway. However he kept his best performance for last and this son of Adios Alonso-Duchess, bred by Basil & Bernie, was a most worthy winner. No doubt Basil would have loved to have had his great friend, the late Richie Maher, there today to share in this success. Nine years ago Basil, Richie & John O’Sullivan teamed up to win the Derby with the sire of this newest champ.

The Dowling family and their Ballymac prefix have had memorable days on the track but never hid their great love for coursing also. They had a formidable team of dogs & bitches coming to Clonmel this year and were rewarded with a first Horse & Jockey Hotel Oaks. Ballymac Enya was the first name drawn from the hat on the night of the National Meeting draw and opened the meeting with a stylish performance up the Powerstown Hill on Sunday morning. The daughter of Coolavanny Bingo – Ballymac Town, a May whelp bred by the Dowlings themselves, continued to impress in every round, as her sire had three years ago when winning the Derby.

What a year it has been so far for the Galvin family from Lixnaw. In the first seven days of 2019 they had won the Cups at Galbally & Templetouhy, as Reserve Slipper young David Galvin got the opportunity to make his National Meeting debut in the opening rounds of the Kitty Butler & TA Morris Stakes and then to cap it all, Ahamore Wonder owned by David’s father Martin and uncle Muiris today won the Kevin Smith Champion Stakes. This beautiful trophy can now sit beside the Deise Cup & Premier Cup won previously by the son of Newinn Wonder and Areyoureadynow who is trained by Dan Brassil.

Nine years after her dam Blades Of Glory suffered a career ending injury in the final of the Champion Bitch Stake, Blades Of Honour today put things right by running out an excellent winner of the Grace & Matt Bruton Champion Bitch Stakes for Tara Guiney from Rathkeale and trainer Gerry Holian. To be truthful, what happened Blades Of Honour last year in the Oaks was one of the reasons that DJ & his team at Powerstown looked at modifying the escape & top of the field, with those changes attracting very positive comments over the last three days. So perhaps there was a little bit of karma today with the success of this daughter of Adios Alonso.

Every couple of years we have a greyhound in one of the Consolation Stakes which has us all commenting on how well he or she would have performed in the Derby or Oaks if things had been different. However it is usually an unlucky first round loser. On this occasion it was a reserve, Wi Can There (Newinn Wonder – Central Stardust) which did not make it into the Derby proper but then hit us with one fast clock after another in the Stockproof Fencing TA Morris Stakes. That includes the clock he recorded in his course for reserves on Day 1. It has sent his owners, brothers Lars & Mats Wicander back home to Sweden as two very happy men and has the rest of us scratching our heads as to how he had never won a full Derby trial stake. Congratulations to trainer Gerry Holian and to Noel & Molly Loughnane also.

The first leg of Gerry Holian’s treble came about this afternoon when Laurina won the Dublin Coach Kitty Butler Stakes. The daughter of Blades Of Hope – Adios Belle was quietly fancied for the Oaks but bowed out to Crafty Cuckoo in the opening round. However it was not to be the last we saw of her and in a thrilling final to the Kitty Butler she just held off the late challenge of her opponent, a most popular success for Ray Conroy & Ollie Dunne from Portlaoise. Indeed her supporters packed the podium for the trophy presentation and set a trend for the presentations which followed.

All of us involved in coursing at Club level know only too well that you are only as good as your last meeting. So no doubt but soon after the dust has settled on the 94th National Meeting the team at Powerstown will look at every aspect of this one with a view to 2020. However for now it is only right that we congratulate each and every one of them on a wonderful National Meeting and say thank you.