NO ROOM FOR ERROR IN IRISH SPRINT CUP

Ian Fortune

In the absence of the hugely promising Crafty Coolio, eleven of Ireland’s finest sprinters will battle it out for a place in the final of the Bar 1 Betting Irish Sprint Cup at Dundalk this evening. The sprint classic has never thrown up a bad renewal and tonight’s semi-final action further highlights just how competitive this year’s competition is.

Tiermana Dream and Montana Secret head the sponsor’s ante-post betting but both suffered defeat last week, further highlighting how any of the remaining runners could land the €20,000 prize. As fate would have it, the big two in the betting have been kept apart this evening.

A DREAM DRAW FOR TIERMANA

Tiermana Dream takes his chance in the opening semi. The Colm Fitzgerald trained star was a wonderful winner of the Treaty Cup at Limerick and is now firmly established as one of the best and sharpest sprinters in the land.

It was something of a shock to see him miss the kick last week but he can put that right tonight. With trap six vacant following the withdrawal of the aforementioned Crafty Coolio, he should have room to race in trap five.

Yurty Magurty is a fast starter in four but does tend to edge inwards. Buddy Brunop and Rallying Billy are drawn in two and three and may need to improve their trapping to get involved, while Looking Splendid is perhaps the greatest threat to Tiermana Dream from trap one.

It has become clear over recent weeks that Looking Splendid can match any greyhound in terms of early speed but he often leaves himself with work to do at boxes. The son of Magical Bale needs to be a touch sharper at exit this evening or he could again find himself playing catch-up.

For all that we said how competitive the contest is, Tiermana Dream has a wonderful make-up and he can seize his opportunity by making virtually all. Looking Splendid is the obvious danger, while the battle for third could go right to the wire.

A REAL PUZZLE BUT MONTANA COULD BE THE ANSWER

The second heat is a far less straightforward puzzle to solve. Bomber Nina, Montana Secret and The Other Wild will have big support with all three in superb form, although Droopys Apollo and Velvet Samba can’t be completely dismissed either.

Barefoot On Fire completes the line-up and will certainly need luck but the veteran has an ideal draw on the fence and any traffic would potentially work in his favour.

Bomber Nina only came into the classic as a reserve in the opening round but she has really grown into the classic, going faster with each week. She was razor-sharp last week, coming home alone in 20.92 and a repeat of that form would see her go close again.

Montana Secret was outstanding in the second round, winning in a sizzling 20.89 before being picked up late last week by Crafty Coolio. It’s best to ignore his latest defeat with the Johnny Linehan trained star more than capable of going a length or two faster. If he were to find a fast start, he could again dip under the 21 second barrier.

The Other Wild is the only unbeaten runner in the classic. He won in 21.26 in the opening round but has since made every inch to win his last two outings in an identical 21.05.

It’s a fascinating contest but Montana Secret could be worth siding with. He has very limited experience over two bends but is starting to really get the hang of things. From a middle draw, he can start better than last week to dispute the early lead before asserting on the corner. Bomber Nina and The Other Wild can follow him through to the final.