Day 1 at Patrickswell has set the scene nicely for what looks to be an intriguing Una O’Sullivan Memorial Irish Cup. By and large all the fancied runners made it through but not necessarily the straight forward way. Central Giver appeared to be well on his way to victory before both dogs went unsighted. The hare then came back out to give them a bit of work. He subsequently went through on the toss of a coin but he has drifted alarmingly in the betting. The real drama came in the third last course of the opening round. Defending champion Gigantor, having his first competitive outing in 362 days was very sluggish leaving slips and looked in trouble for the first 150 yards. He was closing rapidly though when his opponent Sandy Art appeared to check causing both dogs to run into each other before Gigantor got going again to claim the flag.
Champion Stakes winner Navalny which opened 3/1 favourite gave a very polished display and the middle pace of second fav Bobby Browne was very eye catching. However the very good runs from both Escalation and Needham Date in the Irish Purse this afternoon would suggest that the greyhounds which beat them this morning, namely Coverbridge and Moscow Station, are going to prove formidable opponents for the two favourites in RD2.
Floating Houdini has the honour of the fastest clock in the top half (just one spot behind Coverbridge down in other half of draw) but this very lightly coursed greyhound now takes on 2024 Derby semi-finalist Light Brown. The winner should progress to the quarter-final and possibly meet Ballymac Major there. If Capablanca keeps coming away as quickly as he did today it will be hard to keep him out of a quarter-final spot. The same probably applies to Ballymac Peaky in the bottom of that second quarter but it is certainly not as clear-cut.
As already mentioned we have some great buckles in store for us in the third quarter but the winners of the Coverbridge v Bobby Browne and Navalny v Moscow Station courses should win their next also and go through to Sunday. Down in the fourth quarter we are again taking note of the better performances in the Purse this afternoon and in particular that of Master Tactician. He was eliminated from the Cup by Magical Fionn which suggests that the Guilfoyle runner is capable of taking one of the coveted places in the ‘Last 8’ . Paul Horig is doubly represented in this quarter and he will be disappointed if either Gigantor or Challenger Deep don’t claim the final spot.
So a very enjoyable start to the 114th Irish Cup and plenty to look forward to for the weekend. After heavy overnight rain conditions were testing today although nothing like 12 months ago and with a dry night forecast things should be perfect for coursing tomorrow. Navalny remains a very worthy favourite at 5/2 and should he overcome Moscow Station in the next round his price is likely to shorten considerably.