THERE was competitive fare on offer at Sunday’s Kilworth and Araglen Harriers meeting at Ballynalacken and Sean Thomas Doyle’s newcomer Speak Easy booked his passage to this past week’s Tattersalls Ireland sale at the Cheltenham Festival by recording a scintillating success in the Goffs UK Aintree Sale four-year-old maiden.

On an afternoon that witnessed quite testing ground conditions, Speak Easy (5/2) moved through to dispute the running with Pookie Pekan before edging ahead after five out, with Taking A Chance taking up the chase of the winner at the last. The winning son of Beneficial, however, was quite simply in a different league and he stayed on powerfully for Richie Harding, who was recording an initial success for the absent Doyle, to beat the likeable Taking A Chance by six lengths in the familiar Monbeg Syndicate silks.