THE Grendon Memorial Weekend looks like it will be a welcome addition to the burgeoning IHRA calendar. The weekend’s meeting was on a larger scale than the family’s promotion in 2016. In fact, two €8,000 to the winner handicaps (one for pacers, one for trotters) were also the richest harness racing handicaps ever run in this country.
Full marks to the Grendon family, the Gilligans, Mary Kane Gilligan, the many sponsors and of course the stewards and compares who put on a great show.
It’s hard to pick a headline act, so plentiful were the feelgood stories. On the Saturday, we saw the sporting pair of Tonic Scott and Lukie Darling, so often the runners-up, eventually break their duck.
Also on day one, Ireland’s Queen of the Track, Brenda Hudson, opened her account for the year – 44 years on from the year when she drove her first winner.
The weekend also featured more Dunne domination, two impressive wins from the Baltimore yard of Tadhg Murphy and another transformation by John Richardson of an average racehorse, to rival his exploits with the like of Rosehall Champ and Saunders Spartan.
Day two saw the first ‘official’ run of the season for Benny Camden who franked his position as ante-post ‘jolly’ for the Oakwood Stud three-year-old colts division due to be run in August. There’s nothing so exciting as a fast pacer and Porterstown Chris put down a 1.56.8 clock with scarcely a turned hair.
Pressures of space prevent me from name-checking all the placed horses, although full results are attached. The most notable performances are detailed.
On day one, proceedings opened with Ruairi McNulty just getting up by the width of a cigarette paper with Earnies Dream. The McNultys raced the sire Earned Income and he seems to be stamping his stock well.
Sarahs Gift (John Richardson) upstaged Triplicate (Jonny Dunne) in their heat, a lifetime best for Noel Cowden’s homebred and a race in which English hot-pot Tyrion Hanover (4/5 to 1/2) threw away all chance with a bad break at the start.
Bernard Nicholson, attached to the Belmont Stables on the Cooley peninsula, was another to drive his first winner on the big stage as he piloted his English import, Two Score.
TALENTED
In human terms Newtown Rock has been a talented but troubled teenager. His adolescent growing pains seem to be behind him as, the colt that gets the best loose box at Newtown Stables, showed his mature side with Alan Wallace. An easy win in 1.59.2 had seasoned judges nodding their approval. Bigger pots lie ahead.
On Top Jeremys Jet has been a steady earner for the Trim yard of Paddy and Dtina Kane and he won on his seasonal debut for son Patrick.
The latter half of the card on Saturday was filled with heats for the ‘Frenchies’ as the Trotteur Français are nicknamed. In heat one the utterly genuine Tonic Scott conveyed Lukie Darling to a first-ever win. In heat two Tamalou Perrine, a clever acquisition by the Flanagans last autumn, repaid their faith.
Alineke Darche, like Star De Fruitier, is one of those rare trotters with speed like a pacer. Catch me if you can, was the tactic employed by driver Donal Murphy. The Baltimore maestro put her gallop at Dundalk down to the decision to run the mare without front shoes, a common practice in France when racing on a soft or sandy track.
If JR is Ruby Walsh then nephew Noely Ryan is Paul Townend. Just like in Clonsutton, the second choice in the leading stable gets to drive better stock than most other drivers can only dream of. Uris De l’Etrat gave the popular Ryan a win in the grade C heat with John in second on Maxie Collins’ Beach De Bellouet.
Brenda Hudson has been around longer than Philomena Begley and just like the other northern country music star, Brenda showed she can still steal the show. Brenda guided her pampered Scoops Team to another win. Look up this race on the internet to see a textbook example of how to hold together a trotter who is prone to the odd gallop.
Day one closed with the “Leaning Demon”, Jonny Dunne at his brilliant best. He stole the £8,000 pot and the Robert Grendon Memorial Trophy aboard the homebred mare Triplicate with a bold move at the gate from the difficult ‘5 hole’. Streamside Star was a game runner-up for the Joyces.
“She did that the hard way,” commented the understated Dunne. “We were going to Aberystwyth with her, but that’s her handicap gone now, so we’ll probably breed her.”
Day two featured not one but four three-year-old races for Trotteur Français. Horsemen appreciate the time and effort that goes into getting these babies to go round. Like all youngsters, they can have good days and bad. As a result, these fields are quite often ‘strung out like Monday morning’s washing’, to use a favourite phrase of Mick Dempsey’s.
For the record, Anto Malone took the first division with Epsom d’Occagnes, strong enough to pull a carriage. The second division went to the Wallaces as son Alan junior (Espalion De Lilas) upstaged his father, who was on El Tejar who kept making breaks.
The third division saw the lanky Elvira Poterie put in a clear round for Billy Roche. JJ McLeod’s Epice De Le Goutte led everywhere but the line, and looks likely to shed her maiden tag soon.
The fourth and final leg of the three-year-olds went to Alan Wallace with Encorelle Du Messi, a double on the Sunday for the Cloghran outfit. Incidentally the sire of this winner is standing at stud with Clive Richardson at Annaghmore.
In the clockwise trot, favourite Boheme Du Houlbet broke for a few strides. However, Alan Richardson got the mare back down and they had enough class to recoup a good 20 lengths’ disadvantage. Some backers had to glue their tickets back together!
Wayne McNevin was a third driver to win his first race as he guided his own Meadow Camden. The daughter of Pro Bono Best put daylight between herself and the chasing pack. Benny Camden destroyed the G and G1 opposition for Alan Richardson. Barring misfortune, this colt will be hard to beat in the late summer classics. The time of 1.58.6 would be extremely fast amongst aged horses.
LACKLUSTRE
The betting market was hard to read in the top grade trot. Vichy De Moem drifted like the proverbial barge before an untypical lacklustre performance. Maybe his heroic run at Dundalk took its toll?
In the event there was money for Ultimo D’Ouville, However, at the off, word came through for the Murphy runner, Tenor Meslois, the favourite for money and a convincing winner.
Porterstown Chris went off at 1/4 to win the Free-For-All Pace, while stable companion Porterstown Road was 1/2 ‘without the favourite’. The betting reflects what a stranglehold Jeff and Christy Dunne have on the top pacing class these days. A four-length win, eased down for Chris From Road (Deco Connolly) duly followed. The time of 1.56.8 speaks volumes.
Not to be outdone, the Meadowbranch yard avenged their defeat in the previous night’s pacing final when the 10-year-old Tamalou Perrine took the €8,000 to the winner Peter Grendon Trot.
“JR” put the strong-looking gelding into the race early and they had the pace to see off closers Socrate Du Noyer (Ciaran Brickley) and Scoops Team (Brenda Hudson). Hudson remarked that she met plenty of traffic in the closing stages.
The Meadowbranch entourage were understandably delighted with the win by Tamalou Perrine. “He’s a lot better than we thought,” said Mark Flanagan. Both Flanagan and John Richardson were generous in their praise of the slow road work and hard feeding that Tamalou Perrine got from January through April at the National Hunt yard of Colin Hannon in Co Cork.
PORTMARNOCK RESULTS
Saturday, June 10th
Race 1: 1 Earnies Dream (R Mc Nulty), 2 Newtown Major (S Wallace), 3 Panam Colt (M Kelleher). Dist: Sh hd, nk. Time 2.02.2
Race 2: 1 Sarahs Gift (J Richardson), 2 Tripicate (J Dunne), 3 Meadowbranch Roman (B Roche). Dist: 1l, 2l. Time 1.59.4
Race 3: 1 Two Score (B Nicholson), 2 Cool Night Ayr (G Murdock), 3 Meadowbranch Milli (S Flanagan). Dist 4l, 2l. Time 2.01.8
Race 4: 1 Newtown Rock (A Wallace snr), 2 Rhyds Rambler (E Joyce), 3 Meadowbranch Kiki (M Loughran). Dist 20l, 2l. Time 1.59.2
Race 5: 1 On Top Jeremys Jet (P Kane jnr), 2 Streamside Star (E Joyce), 3 Rhyds Cobbler (S Duggan). Dist 1l, ½l. Time 2.00.7
Race 6: 1 Tonic Scott (L Darling), 2 Socrate Du Noyer (C Brickley), 3 Urbano Des Selles (B Roche). Dist ½l, 4l. Time 3.10.5
Race 7: 1 Tamalou Perrine (J Richardson), 2 Best of Lou Lou (N Ryan), 3 Balzac de Villiars (B Roche). Dist ½l, 2¾l. Time 3.10.5
Race 8: 1 Alineka Darche (D Murphy), 2 Rol d’Avignere (B Roche), 3 Brasilia Match (S Kane). Dist 2½l, 1½l. Time 3.10.4
Race 9: 1 Uris De l’Etrat (N Ryan), 2 Beach De Bellouet (J Richardson), 3 Audabe a Helene (P Hill). Dist 10l, 2l. Time 3.08.3
Race 10: 1 Scoops Team (B Hudson), 2 Vif Du Layon (J Dunne), 3 Star Du Fruitier (N Ryan). Dist 2l, 3l. Time 3.09.8
Race 11 Robert Grendon Memorial Pace Final: 1 Triplicate (J Dunne), 2 Newtown Rock (A Wallace), 3 Newtown Major (S Wallace). Dist 3l, 6l. Time 2.00.
Sunday, June 11th
Race 1: 1 Epsom d’Occagnes (A Malone), 2 Efficacite (M Loughran), 3 Ella Lou Lou (S Kane). Dist nk, 7½l. Time 3.19.5
Race 2: 1 Meadow Camden (M McVetin), 2 Shrewd Operator (S Duggan), 3 Stars In Their Eyes (M Kane). Dist 13½l, 6½l. Time 2.03.5
Race 3: 1 Espalion du Lilas (A Wallace jnr), 2 Ebene des Brouets (P Manning), 3 Eureka Flamandrum (S Gallagher). Dist 5l,5l. Time 3.19.1
Race 4: 1 Benny Camden (A Richardson), 2 Alicolt (M O’Reilly), 3 IB A Magician (D Murphy). Dist 13l, 3l. Time 1.58.6
Race 5: 1 Elvira Poterie (B Roche), 2 Epice De La Goutte (JJ McLeod), 3 Eclipse St Jean (J Richardson). Dist 9l 1¼l. Time 3.23.1
Race 6: 1 Porterstown Chris (J Dunne), 2 Porterstown Road (D Connolly), 3 Meadowbranch Romeo (B Roche). Dist 5l, 3l. Time 1.56.8
Race 7: 1 Encorelle Du Messi (A Wallace), 2 Etoile Quick (M Loughran), 3 Extase Des Epines (M Kelleher). Dist 1½l, 6l. Time 3.26
Race 8: 1 Boheme Du Houlbet (A Richardson), 2 Soprano Gede (S Kane), 3 Record Dream (A Malone). Dist 1½l, nk. Time 2.05.6
Race 9: 1 Tenor Meslois (D Murphy), 2 Ultomo d’Ouville (A Wallace snr), 3 Best Of Burois (J Richardson). Dist 1¾l, 4¾l. Time 3.06
Race 10 Peter Grendon Memorial Trot Final: 1 Tamalou Perrine (J Richardson), 2 Socrate Du Noyer (C Brickley), 3 Scoops Team (B Hudson). Dist 1¼l, nk. Time 3.07.3