Long Odds Irish Cup
Having introduced Navalny at 4/1 fav to win the Una O’Sullivan Memorial Irish Cup, he is now as short as 3/1 with Boylesports after laying some decent bets. He remains 7/2 with Berkie Browne. Both bookmakers have the pup Bobby Browne next in the betting at 6/1 and this is the dog that Berkie expects to have a big say in the Classic. At 8/1 another pup Challenger Deep is better value with Berkie (Boylesports 6/1) but it is the opposite with 2023 Irish Cup winner Cool Spirit who at 10/1 is two points higher with Boylesports (Berkie 8/1). As expected Ballymac Peaky is the third of the fancied pups at 8/1 and he is joined at that price by defending champion Gigantor, Ballymac Major & Moscow Station.
There is a very open look to the betting for the Patsy Byrne Select Bitch Stake. The selection of the Sporting Press team Shes Our Sky is 5/2 with Berkie (Boylesports 3/1). For anyone fancying a bet on recent Oaks semi-finalist Ballymac Mulan she is 5/1 with Boylesports (Berkie 4/1) but Berkie is offering better prices on Barrack Buttons 4/1 & Montpelier Aya 6/1. Both firms are offering the same 4/1 about last year’s winner Mon Petit & the pup Ballymore Lady which will hopefully give our Irish Cup sponsors a good run.
| IRISH CUP 2025 – Non Runners |
| UNA O’SULLIVAN MEMORIAL IRISH CUP |
| PATSY BYRNE SELECT BITCH STAKES |
| KYLE CHAMPION WORKING MEMBERS |
| SEND IT TEABAGS |
Smashing Bitch Stakes at Irish Cup
There is a change in format with the Bitch Stakes at this year’s Irish Cup but if anything it has made them more competitive. The traditional Patsy Byrne Select Bitch Stakes is now for 16 runners, winner €7,500 and starts on Saturday. The new Greenmount Bitch Stakes is for 8 runners, winner €2,500 and gets underway on Sunday. Both stakes have an exciting mix of All Age & Pups.
The first course in the Patsy Byrne Select Stakes has paired recent Oaks semi-finalist Ballymac Mulan with Newinn Candy (just up loser RD3 Clonmel) and sets the tone for the remainder of the event. The field also includes the 2024 winner of this stake Mon Petit and five bitches which either ran or were listed as reserves in the Grace & Matt Bruton Champion Bitch Stakes earlier this month. Aside from those, our Sporting Press tipsters this week have also nominated Shes Our Sky, Montpelier Aya, Rectory Pearl or Ballymore Lady (pup) as potential winners so it really is going to be a hugely interesting betting market on Saturday morning.
The eight runner Greenmount Bitch Stakes is no less interesting but all eyes will be on the Edenderry Oaks TS winner Tis Our Dream which missed her engagement in Clonmel due to a set-back. If fully fit she will take beating in the bottom half of the draw with 2024 Oaks semi-finalist Marvelous Mover her biggest danger. Zauberflute ran very well here last year when she ran-up the Patsy Byrne Select Bitch Stakes. She could reach another Patrickswell final even though her recent form isn’t overly inspiring.
Fantasy Coursing Update
Should Dan O’Donoghue, Millstreet, claim his fourth Sporting Press Fantasy Coursing title this weekend he will certainly have to thank the ‘man of the moment’, Brendan Matthews. They say you shouldn’t put all your eggs in the one basket but Dan paid no heed to that advice and no less that six of the eight greyhounds in his winning selection hail from the Townview kennels. The other two are the Liam Dowling trained Derby & Oaks winners from last season. All of this meant that Dan had both finalists in both Champion Stakes at Clonmel earlier this month and won a massive 300 Fantasy points. Metal Queen was of course the one that really made the difference and Dan now finds himself on the brink of a fourth win in this popular competition. In the separate Fantasy for Charity competition, Declan Murphy (Callaway) has been out in front since November and has a very respectable 570 points. Any points won by Navalny or O’Gradys Beach will get him over the line although realistically his only dangers are Aisling Flynn with Aristotle and Dion Cummings with Certain Sure. Read this week’s Sporting Press for our full look at how the Fantasy Coursing competitions might unfold at the Irish Cup.
| Sporting Press Fantasy Coursing Competition | |||
| Name | Points | ||
| 1 | Dan O’Donoghue, Millstreet | 670 | |
| 2 | Michael & Susan Condon, Ballyduff | 655 | |
| 3 | Betty Collins, Abbeyfeale | 620 | |
| Jt 4 | James Wade, Cashel | 610 | |
| Jt 4 | Mary Holland, Tarbert | 610 | |
| Sporting Press Fantasy Coursing Charity Competition | |||
| Name | Points | ||
| 1 | Denis Murphy, Brosna | 570 | |
| 2 | Aisling Flynn, Tarbert | 475 | |
| 3 | Dion Cummings, Limavady | 460 |
Draw & Preview
The draw has been made for the 2025 running of the Una O’Sullivan Memorial Irish Cup and it promises to be an intriguing renewal. The field includes defending champion Gigantor, 2023 winner Cool Spirit, recent Champion Stakes winner and likely favourite Navalny and 2023 Champion Stakes winner Ballymac Major. Leading the charge for the pups will be Ballymac Peaky who unfortunately couldn’t take his place in the Derby but his first round opponent is another pup, Mango, which won many admirers in Clonmel. Considering he eliminated Central Giver by 3L in the opening round of the Derby, Ashmore Express will be no pushover for Navalny. Challenger Deep is another pup drawn for a big run and will be expected to meet Gigantor running for same owner in the bottom quarter-final whilst the aforementioned Central Giver will have a big say also on his TA Morris Stakes performance. Of the older runners, the meeting of Aristotle v Light Brown and Capablanca v Bodens Hulk will be difficult courses to call and the winners are capable of going a long way. However we will make an early prediction that Aristotle (who ran very well here 12 months ago), Ballymac Peaky (if 100%), Navalny and Gigantor will win their respective quarters and give us an exciting conclusion to the 2024/25 season.
| UNA O’SULLIVAN MEMORIAL IRISH CUP 2025 | ||||||
| No | Nominator | Dog | V’s | No | Nominator | Dog |
| First Quarter | ||||||
| 1 | Pat Pyne & Patsy Myers | Moyle Magic (b) (p) | V’s | 2 | Billy & James Mann | Smalltown Hero (b) |
| 3 | Bobby O’Connor | Da Beers (b) | V’s | 4 | K Murphy & D Magnone | Cuban Blondie (b) (p) |
| 5 | John Wilson | Aristotle | V’s | 6 | J Cunningham & M Jackson | Light Brown |
| 7 | Colin & Mairead Wallace | Floating Houdini (p) | V’s | 8 | Leo Walsh | Bang Over Debar |
| 9 | Lady Ana Johnson | Rubicon | V’s | 10 | Sir Mark Prescott | March Past (p) |
| 11 | Noel Collins | Lisahane Tom | V’s | 12 | Paul Horig | Alekhine |
| 13 | Raymond Smith | Rampart Marvel | V’s | 14 | Vincent Purtill | Banoffee Pie (p) |
| 15 | Pat Savage | Gunfighter (p) | V’s | 16 | Liam Dowling | Ballymac Major |
| Second Quarter | ||||||
| 17 | Luke Kilcoyne | Capablanca | V’s | 18 | Michael Horgan | Bodens Hulk |
| 19 | Tony Quinn | Tonevane Togo | V’s | 20 | John Flynn | Marvelous Hero (p) |
| 21 | Liam & Patrick Mann | Faraway Fields (p) | V’s | 22 | Matt Feheney | Barrack Legand (p) |
| 23 | Brendan Duffy | Central Giver (p) | V’s | 24 | Fr. John Fitzgibbon | Lahard Timmy |
| 25 | M. O’Donovan Killaloe | Stickmein (p) | V’s | 26 | John & Alan Troy | Certain Sure |
| 27 | Brendan Matthews | Cool Spirit | V’s | 28 | Mary Fitzgerald | Last Highwayman (p) |
| 29 | Mark & Ailish Dilger | Morally Right (p) | V’s | 30 | Berkie & Patsy Browne | Taelane Tiger |
| 31 | Liam & Noreen Liddy | Ballymac Peaky (p) | V’s | 32 | Liam & William Riordan | Mango (p) |
| Third Quarter | ||||||
| 33 | Peter O Loghlen | Escalation (p) | V’s | 34 | Murty & Ciaran McMahon | Coverbridge (p) |
| 35 | Jimmy Browne | Bobby Browne (p) | V’s | 36 | Pat Burke | Crohane Rhapsody |
| 37 | O’Sullivan Family | Capitol Trend | V’s | 38 | Susan Garrahy | Ballymac Hollow (p) |
| 39 | Eamonn Kiely | Woodpark Eagle | V’s | 40 | M. O’Donovan Tipperary | Soprano (p) |
| 41 | Brendan Farrelly | Happy Walking (p) | V’s | 42 | Tadg Sullivan | Slanestown Tyson (p) |
| 43 | J Bennett & Gregg Bros | Member Guest (p) | V’s | 44 | Mike Mann | Benny The Bear |
| 45 | Michael Spillane Bantry | Navalny | V’s | 46 | John Boyle | Ashmore Express (p) |
| 47 | Diarmuid O’Connor | Moscow Station | V’s | 48 | Nora Raleigh | Needham Date |
| Fourth Quarter | ||||||
| 49 | Gerry Hughes | Master Tactician (p) | V’s | 50 | Tomas Coolahan | Magical Fionn |
| 51 | Dermot O’Shea | O Gradys Beach | V’s | 52 | JP Shaw | Cuban Bowie (p) |
| 53 | Gavin Johns | Bundchen (p) | V’s | 54 | Marie Field | Charlemont Groom |
| 55 | Brian Murphy | Jeru Hope | V’s | 56 | Charlie & Gerry Chawke | Ahh Boy |
| 57 | Pat Horgan | Da Ladies Master (p) | V’s | 58 | John & Niall Doolan | Creamery Steel (p) |
| 59 | Brian & Laurence Jones | Sandy Art (p) | V’s | 60 | Bridget Byrne | Gigantor |
| 61 | Ned & Tommy Relihan | Challenger Deep (p) | V’s | 62 | Tim O’Driscoll | Farmer Phil (p) |
| 63 | Ml Spillane Killarney | Shuffleupanddeal | V’s | 64 | Reddan Family | Priory Rebel |