O’CONNOR AND GOBA ACTION SERVES UP QUALITY ACTION

Peter Farrell

While the semi-finals of the Con & Annie Kirby Memorial took centre stage at Limerick, there was no shortage of quality on the undercard, with the semi-finals of the Sean O’Connor Memorial A1 525 and the Limerick & Clare GOBA A2 525 producing some excellent racing.

This year’s renewal of the Sean O’Connor Memorial has been of a notably high standard, and that was again underlined by two impressive semi-final performances, headed by Brickhill Moana, who dipped under 28.30 for John Collins, Albert Long and Vincent McKenna. A third-place finisher in the opening round, she has clearly benefitted from her return to Limerick, delivering a dominant display. Drawn in trap four, the 5/1 chance broke sharply to open up a three-length advantage over Tinahue Pappone on the run-up. Entering the back straight, the daughter of Ballymac Bolger and Twentylittletoes maintained a relentless gallop, extending her lead further as trouble behind hampered her nearest rival. With the race effectively over, Brickhill Moana powered home to score by an emphatic nine lengths, with Boozed Bonnie finishing second and Kilcolgan John third. The winning time was a rapid 28.27.

TECO BOUNCES BACK

In the second semi-final, Gaytime Teco went one better than his narrow opening-round defeat to double his career tally for Graham Holland and Brendan O’Connell.

Sent off at 7/2, Gaytime Teco overcame a potentially awkward draw in trap six with a sharp break, sweeping around his rivals and showing great balance to assert into the back straight. Kilcolgan Eddie gave chase and applied sustained pressure, but Holland’s runner continued to edge clear approaching the penultimate bend. Youandme Babe was now in full throttle and made a strong move at the three-quarter mark, but she too was held at bay as Gaytime Teco stayed on resolutely to secure a one-and-a-half-length victory. The time was 28.65, with Kilcolgan Eddie second and Youandme Babe also qualifying in third.

NEADY SETS THE GOBA STANDARD

The semi finals of the Limerick & Clare GOBA A2 525 were decided early on in the card, with Ballymartin Neady (Dromana Bucko - Parkview Trudi) coming out the right side of a judges call to go quickest.

A stacked opening semi final included both Sheezatwister and Fleeting Moment and it was the latter that went to traps as the 15/8 favourite. At traprise, Ballymartin Neady (5/2) showed first, however, had no answer to the early speed of Corona Ryan’s Sheezatwister in trap one. The latter led comfortably into the back, while Fleeting Moment set off in chase in second. It looked to be between the market leaders approaching the business end, however, Ballymartin Neady, owned by Sean Roche, arrived with a wet sail to split the favourites and cross the line a neck clear of Fleeting Moment in second. Sheezatwister was a further one length back in third, in a time of 28.37.

In the second semi final, the Paul Hennessy-trained Two Chimneys (Grangeview Ten - Me Penny) made it back-to-back wins. Owned by Paul Hynes, the red jacketed runner went off at odds of 11/4 and broke well, bettered only the early speed of Tally Ho Rose in three. The latter cut the nose off Two Chimneys at the opener, ensuring she took a clear advantage into the back straight. The Hennessy runner wasn’t to be outdone, however, challenging once again late on to storm home and win by three-parts-of-a-length. Tally Ho Rose and Tyrap Malachi finished third, in a time of 28.76.