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DRAW
This coming weekend marks the occasion of the 90th Annual Coursing meeting of the Sevenhouses & District Coursing Club. The club have been coursing on their famous field in Danesfort since 1922, and this year’s meeting promises to be one to rival any that has gone before.
The main attraction for followers of the leash will be the Seamus Hughes memorial Cup, which attracts a super entry this year. With the national meeting in Powerstown Park only two weeks away, this all age completion feature an number of dogs on the quest for a place in the Champion Stakes in Clonmel.
The dog to watch will be Marshals Safari, a champion stakes runner last season, and dual cup winner this Season, Mooncoin and Crohane. He will most probably start favourite. However, competition will be stiff, with cup and trial stake winners throughout the draw.
'Safari will have to hit the ground running, as he meets Lawlee in Rd. 1, he was last year’s first talking dog after a couple of flashy runs in Glin, but he hasn’t had it easy with fitness since, but reports from Kerry say he is coming good again. Coming at the winner of that buckle will be possibly Needham Skill, TS winning and cup winner from Rathdowney, he holds 6 champion stakes points, and is a dog of huge talent.
As you go through the cup, it doesnt get any easier, Cantalach Cocaim is a winner and runner-up this season, Wheel of Time a cup winner, Shanavullin Pines, a one time antepost Derby favourite, Coshair Magic, Gortglas Houdini and Ashmore Lucky very good trial stake winners, Gypsy Rover, cup winner and ru this season... Then we have the bitches, Gentle Angle is chasing a win that would put her in the Champion Bitch field in Clonmel, while the wonderful Beautiful Chrissy a 5 time cup winner is also looking to book her place in the Powerstown line-up. It is certainly a wonderful cup, when we got back from the great Templetuohy meeting yesterday evening, we had 42 entries standing for this stake, so I suppose it was easy in that respect to come up with such a field, but a nightmare in many other respects.
On that note, for the open events, trialstakes, 3 course duffer, Cup, we had a record entry, and after yesterdays late withdrawals the state of play was OTS 69 bitches, RDTS 64 dogs, Cup 42, and Duffer 37. It is a terrible situation to have to disappoint so many, and as the receiver of entries I have been bearing the brunt of it today, but such is the territory, the messenger is being shot !
Anyway back to the Trialstakes, again theses promise to be super affairs, with the RDTS, throwing us no less than 4 TS runner up's form this season, and while the layers will want to stay on the right side of Big Mahie, Barefoot Wally, Dustys Blueboy and Fords Cross, those in attendance would do well to keep an eye of July pup Cleanaway Rodge, who looked the part in Fenagh earlier in the season, and with age on his side he should be right there with the best of them.
The is again a highly competitive affair, with plenty of runners up and hotly fancied bitches going to slips here. In the top half we have runners up, Boomtown Hazel, Cousins Ruby, Chateau Bow Wow and Vacume Vagabond, who are joined by a bitch that has twice been fav on the final day of coursing this year, Shaunanne Flyer. It does not weaken down the bottom either, Crafty Cielo, Lady Casanova, Wine for Shine, Call Me Kerry, Miss Abby & Pumpaction Nina have all hit the post this season...
This year Sevenhouses are also hosting a new event in the coursing calendar, the English Invitation Champion Cup, which will be a keenly contested 8 dog stake, for English owned and trained greyhounds, that have been running in stakes around Ireland this season in an effort to qualify for this event. With coursing under cessation in the United Kingdom for the past number of years, this event offers a chance for English owners to continue to run their dogs in this ancient sport.
In the interests of good old fashioned sport the first round losers in the English Champion Cup plus their reserves will go forward to take on the losers form the working members stake in the first running of the Why You Monty Anglo-Irish Cup.
The card will also feature the John Drennan memorial 3 course duffer, and the Garnaman & Leo Dwyer Cup for working members of the club. A great weekends sport is promised with the first brace of dogs going to slips at 11.30am each day.
The order of running is as follows:
Saturday, Sunday 14th and 15th January
Judge: Tom Lawler Slippers: John Doyle and Brian Doyle
Start 11.30am both days
Saturday: Twice through Reserve Derby TS and Oaks TS. Once through Seamus Hughes Memorial All Age Cup, Working Members Stake and English Invitation Champion Cup.
Sunday: Start with 3 Course Duffer, Anglo-Irish Why You Monty Cup, Working Members Stake and complete card.
Yours in Sport !
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