Peter Farrell
The second round heats of the Centenary-Agri Tipperary Cup took centre stage at Thurles Greyhound Stadium on Saturday night and Tarsna Maasai set the standard with a huge performance in the opening heat for Geoff Parnaby.
One of the leading trackers in the Country, Tarsna Maasai showed a glimpse of things to come last weekend as he won in 28.93 on his return from a near three-month exodus and he delivered in style in the opening heat. Sent to traps as the hot 4/7 favourite, it was expected to be all one-way traffic for the classy son of Droopys Sydney - Tarsna Rose and he justified popular belief as he powered from traps to clock a fast 1.66 sectional. In doing so, ‘Maasai’ opened a two and a half length lead over Holiday Beebee, with Jim By Two occupying third rounding the second bend. The latter showed a lovely turn of pace to quickly improve into second, however, the damage was done in terms of the outcome as Tarsna Maasai continued to set a scorching gallop in front. Dominating throughout, Parnaby’s charge stayed on stoutly as he capped off a solo victory to cross the line five lengths clear of Jim By Two in second. The time was a sizzling 28.72.
THYME BOUNCES BACK
In the second heat of the night, Borna Thyme emerged a worthy winner as Ruairi Dwan’s charge made every post a winner.
Boylesports Blue was the strong favourite after a phenomenal opening round effort, however, an untidy start followed by early traffic saw his bid for back-to-back wins come to an end. In contrast, Borna Thyme set his stall out early with a slick exit from five and he proceeded to open a commanding lead into the back straight. Much like Tarsna Maasai in the heat prior, Borna Thyme was out in splendid isolation for the majority of this contest but he was forced to pull out all the stops come the business end of the contest. With Moorstown Knight bridging an eight length gap and continuing to close with every stride, the line came just in time for Dwan’s charge as he managed to hold off his rival and win by a decreasing half-length. The time was 28.80.
BILLY BOUNCES BACK
In the concluding second round heat, Cagey Billy bounced back from defeat in the opening round to win for the fifteenth time in his career.
Owned by Christopher Delaney, Cagey Billy endured a troublesome passage in round one after being shuffled back early on, however, he showed his versatility to bounce straight back for connections. Donning the orange jacket, the son of Pestana - Lilly Lula was chalked up at odds of 3/1 and he was to emerge a decisive winner as he galloped to a four length victory over Cabra Keiser in second. The time was another fast 28.90.