TREATY BACK TO HIS BEST AS DIEGO GOES QUICKEST IN LEGER QUARTERS

    TREATY BACK TO HIS BEST AS DIEGO GOES QUICKEST IN LEGER QUARTERS

    Peter Farrell

    While the opening round of the Callaway Pro Am @ Stud Irish St. Leger was a case of shadow boxing for many, it shot into life on Saturday night at Limerick Greyhound Stadium with a couple of stunning performances.

    There may have been a few eyebrows raised when the name of a certain Clonbrien Treaty came out of the hat for the 2025 renewal, however, all indications were that Graham Holland’s four-time Classic winner was as good as ever as he made the bulk of a running in his opening round defeat. Fast forward seven days and the incredible blue stripped much fitter this time around as he led home a brilliant field to take the opening quarter. Indeed, his performance was bettered only by the Paul Hennessy-trained Hello Diego as he made it back-to-back wins with another hugely impressive display as he blew holes in his rivals from the halfway mark.

    The place to start is with Hello Diego as Paul Hyne’s runner showed once again his appreciation for the big galloping circuit that Limerick offers. Running in the third quarter final, he was installed as the 7/4 favourite and broke best of all from trap six to dispute the early exchanges. Drombeg Banner also came away racing from four and he was to outpace his talented rival on the run-up to quickly open a two length advantage rounding the opener. That said, there was already a certain inevitability about the result as Hello Diego rounded a close third and he hit top gear passing the 750-yard box to assert. Within the blink of an eye, Hennessy’s son of Jaytee Yankee - Darver Bridie had quickly manufactured daylight and he would go on to draw clear of Drombeg Banner to win by an ever-increasing six and a half lengths. The final qualifying position saw kennel companion Flight Club book his spot in the semis and the time was a rapid 29.41, which was the fastest of the session.

    TREATY BACK ON COURSE

    Chasing an historic third straight Leger triumph, Clonbrien Treaty looked up against it in the opener quarter final as he was amongst a sensational sextet in what was a red-hot contest on paper.

    Indeed, such as the quality within heat one, Clonbrien Treaty went off at odds of 3/1 as impressive first round winner, Daleroad Duke, went off as the 6/4 jolly. In truth, it was all about the aforementioned duo as they finished several lengths clear of the remainder of the field. At traprise, it was Daleroad Duke that shot out to lead from four, however, ‘Treaty’ showcased his customary early speed to storm around the outside and lead into the back. Holding a two length advantage over ‘Duke’, the rest of the field became detached at this point as the leading pair went stride for stride approaching the penultimate bend. Coursing the hare out wide, Clonbrien Treaty continued to hold a solid advantage out in front and on this occasion, the son of Pestana showed no signs of stopping as he maintained a powerful gallop all the way to the winning line. Crossing with one and a half lengths to spare over Daleroad Duke in second, the time was a fine 29.48. The final qualifying position went to kennel companion Ballyhimikin Ben, who finished four lengths further back in third.

    HARVEY REMAINS UNBEATEN

    The ever-consistent Faypoint Harvey landed the second quarter final as he too led early to make it back-to-back wins in the competition.

    Trained by Graham Holland for Patricia Flanagan, Faypoint Harvey was bidding to bring up a sensational sixteenth victory and he showed all of his grit and determination to win for a second consecutive week. Running from trap three, ‘Harvey’ didn’t come away too fluently and was forced to put all of his early speed on show as he rallied up the inside of early leader, Drombeg Jet. In doing so, the 5/4 favourite took a slender lead into the back from Blastoff Heffo and the two went toe-to-toe down the back with just three parts of a length to separate them. However, Faypoint Harvey is as game as they come and the son of Droopys Sydney pulled out plenty in the closing stages of the contest. With Blastoff Heffo forced to switch sides on the run for home, this allowed Holland’s charge to pull clear and win by one and a half lengths. The remaining qualifying position went the way of Magical Sapphire, in a time of 29.73.

    33/1 MINNIE MAKES-ALL

    There was a major upset in the final quarter final as Flyers Minnie (Ballyhimikin Jet - Liosgarbh Lila) made every inch of the running to win at odds of 33/1.

    Trained by Colm Fitzgerald for the Zero-Zero-Syndicate, Flyers Minnie looked to have plenty on her plate in terms of making the frame in the final quarter, however, she produced a career best effort to book her spot in the final twelve next weekend. Indeed, there was nothing fortunate about the performance of Fitzgerald’s charge as she pinged out of trap two to show the superior early speed. Rounding with a one length advantage over Droopys Deploy, you would have been forgiven for thinking that Robert Gleeson’s runner would storm past his rival at this point. However, Flyers Minnie showed brilliant guts to fend off her rival at every turn, before crossing the line to record a short-head victory. The final qualifying position was sealed by Cagey Billy, who was two lengths further back in third. The time was 29.92.