Out and Gone !! That was the case for Carrigcanon Duke as he took the spoils in the Paddy Butler Memorial A5 final on Friday night. A wonderful victory for the Paul Reid and Richard Vereker owned ‘Duke’, who is really going in the right direction improving in every way with each run. He was brought to this side of the country after starting his schooling in Kerry with this prize in mind, of that I have no doubt, and he duly obliged for connections.
As far as the bookies were concerned it was a two dog race, with the super young bitch Airmount Pearl opening 4/6f, on the strength of her great 29.14 last week, and ‘Duke’ at 2/1, it was 6/1 bar after that. However, on analysis, Duke always had his chance. Each week this dog has showed superb trapping ability and early pace, clocking sectionals of 4.53 and 4.46 and allied to the favourable draw in the blue jacket, he was certainly favourite to lead. And so it came to pass as he improved his sectional yet again (4.42), and took the first bend lead. Airmount Pearl was hot on his heals though, however she got caught from behind and knocked over, and from there ‘Duke stretched his advantage to 5L down the back straight, and held off the fast finishing Movealong Karen by a comfortable 3.5 lengths, 29.27.
Carrigcanon Duke, is by 2009 Produce Stakes winner Duke Special (Ballymac Maeve – Owvane Beauty), who was retired to stud after his Produce victory, and like his sire, he is certainly putting early foot into his progeny who are just hitting the tracks now. His Dam, Affleck Boswell, an open class performer around Tralee, who was a strong running type, and in this, her second litter has produced her best pup to date in ‘Duke’, but watch this space as there is a lot more to come from this young dog and his comrades.
Friday night, was also another successful benefit night for Timahoe GAA club. Which once again highlights the fundraising power of a night at the dogs. While this week the focus will be onto the Langton Derby, we did get a glimpse of some of the likely candidates for that crown,. Ballygur Ted producing and excellent 29.14 with a typical early paced display, while the fast finishing Stage Impact also caught the eye in that race. Burgess Star was another early paced winner in the Open / A1 contest, and as it was his first look at the track he will also surely improve further. Another eye catcher was High St. Miley, who was foot perfect in her 29.18 effort.
A preview of the Langton Derby will appear hear once it was been drawn later in the week.
