CHARLI GETS THE NOD IN NORTHWEST GREYHOUND SUPPLIES FINAL

Peter Farrell

There’s a valuable prize on offer at Lifford Greyhound Stadium tonight as the €4,000-to-the-winner Northwest Greyhound Supplies A4/A5 525 reaches its conclusion.

Sponsored by John Paul Brennan of Northwest Greyhound Supplies, in association with TIME Greyhound Nutrition, the competition has delivered solid racing over the past three weeks and, with little separating the finalists, it appears a fairly open decider. While both semi-finals were untidy, a cleaner contest is expected, and a stamina-heavy line-up could allow the early pacers to take control.

Kilara Charli is the selection despite suffering his first defeat of the stake last weekend. Trained by Dessie Kerrigan for Robert Brolly, he missed the break in the semi-final but still showed plenty of early gears to hit the front and dictate for much of the contest. From trap two, he is unlikely to break as poorly this time around and he should take control of the rails before building a decisive lead thereafter. He also sets the standard on the clock and may have enough in reserve to hold on late. Tetra Eco rates the main danger. A three-time winner from eight starts for David O’Neill, he has the early pace to challenge and showed sharp acceleration in the semi-finals to take control after a sloppy start. A cleaner break would put him firmly in the mix if bringing his A-game to proceedings.

STAMINA SET

The remainder are largely stronger finishers than early pace types, which could make the early stages decisive. Lemon Donnacha is unbeaten and sure to attract support, but will need to break sharply from his wide draw to avoid traffic and get into contention. If within striking distance down the back, he looks the most likely to threaten the likes of Kilari Charli and Tetra Eco. Dreenan Bella is well housed in trap one but can be susceptible to stronger runners down the back. She does, however, find a second wind late on and could make the frame if things fall her way. Meanwhile, similar comments apply to kennelmates False Rumour and Laoises Pet, both trained by John McQuillan. Although this trip is on the short side for both, the make-up of the race could allow them to race more prominently than usual. That said, with the majority of the field reliant on strong finishes, this should allow the early pace setters to assert.

Verdict – Kilara Charli