Wallis Shades Cahill As Pair Dominate At Hove

A fantastic night’s racing at Hove was dominated by local trainer Seamus Cahill and Mark Wallis.  Cahill took an early advantage on the winners front quickly rattling off a hattrick in style but Wallis came back and eventually ended up with four winners on the card including total domination of the George Curtis & Ballyregan Bob Memorial as he took all 3 heats and finished runner up with his only other entry.  All trainers with qualifiers through to next week’s respective finals however will be equally as delighted and Saturday 18th December promises to be a great night for the sport with the finals of the Olympic , George Curtis & Ballyregan Bob Memorial , Brighton Belle , Kathleen Kis and the Christmas Cracker all taking place.

Pocket Lulu got the night off to a perfect start for the Cahill team as she took heat 1 of the Coral Brighton Belle with Patrick Janssens Garryglass Abbie qualifying for the final in second beaten a neck in 3053.  Heat 2 saw Aayamza Lexie qualifying for the final in a winning time of 3009 with much travelled new kennel mate Ballymac Trend beaten off a length into second in 3009 and giving Mark Wallis two qualifiers into next week’s final.  Pocket Lola had been well touted for this competition and Seamus Cahill’s bitch showcased why here.  Winning heat 3 in a fastest of the heats 3009 she showed that anything her sister ‘Lulu’ can do she can do a little bit faster.  A fabulous final in store next week with six top class bitches through to the main event.

The Coral Olympic Semi Finals were next up and thoughts are immediate with Patrick Janssens and connections after Bockos Belly appeared to go badly wrong when in a good position at the first bend.  Results at times like this become somewhat of an irrelevance and the thoughts of the whole sport will be with a superstar of the game.  Outsider of the field Borna Wine at 14/1 came through the pack to win for Tony Collett in 3063 with fellow outsider Prince Of Troy qualifying in second for David Mullins.

If ever there was a greyhound who deserved a big competition win then few could lay as much claim as Seamus Cahill’s Smurfs Machine.  The 2020 English Derby Finalist was flawless in his heat and repeated the does here as he took semi-final 2 with the minimum of fuss in 3008 with Richard Yeates Faughan Rebel a length behind.  ‘Rebel’ himself is a greyhound who has never had luck on his side with injuries hampering him throughout his career.  A hugely talented dog and himself a semi-finalist in the aforementioned 2020 English Derby at Nottingham.  Connections have performed miracles to get him back running at the level he is once more and there wouldn’t be a dry eye in the house if he were to land the honours a month after he reached veteran status.

The third semi-final of the night went to the hugely talented and at times machine like Trumps Benefit.  Carol Weatherall’s greyhound has an engine that few greyhounds can match and the manner in which he moves through the gears at key moments in a race is a pleasure to watch.  He did just that once again taking up the running rounding the third turn to eventually cross the finish line 2 lengths clear of Jason Heath’s Seomra Razl in 3033.  Trumps Benefit is yet another big race finalist reared and schooled at the Northern Irish base of Sean Conway.

Mark Wallis’s Aayamza Dream took heat 1 of the George Curtis & Ballyregan Bob Memorial by half a length from John Mullins Burgess Elite in a fastest of the heats 4435.  It didn’t take Wallis long to get back on the winner’s podium as Antigua Lava landed heat 2 in 4441 with the kennels Blueberry Bullet just half a length behind.  Aayamza Royale left it late but got up on the line to make it a full house in the heats for the Wallis team as she claimed the scalp of Seamus Cahill’s Slippy Eva by a short head in 4451

The Kathleen Kis Memorial was next up and Jason Heath saw his Indesatchel land heat 1 in 2939 with Nathan Hunt’s Ballyard Ricki qualifying in second.  The second heat saw Russian Sammy winning in 2960 with Bodhis Bullet for Tony Taylor also qualifying and in the third and final heat Coolavanny Class took the honours in 2951 with Seamus Cahill’s going through in second place.