TIR PRINCE SATURDAY

THE ‘Crock of Gold’ race, sponsored by Northern Trading of Cumbria, is Britain’s biggest race for all aged pacers and became popular when it was originally televised on S4C.

It is a natural climax to the season at Britain’s premier hard track, Tir Prince, Rhyl, and carries a winner’s prize fund of £5,000. The superbly laid out track is just over an hour from Holyhead and usually attracts a fair share of Irish runners.

Saturday’s closing meeting began well for the sizeable Irish contingent when Newtown Revenge provided a welcome winner for Alan Wallace who has stuck at it, during a luckless season.

In the third race on the card, Triplicity’s upward trajectory continued when the filly gave the Leaning Demon, Jonny Dunne, a victory in 2.05.4s. Her previous win came when the Dunnes loaned her to visiting American Mike Wilder at the VDM weekend.

By race seven the Tir Prince bookies were on the ropes. An Irish one-two, Tarawood CJ (driven by Johnny Dunne) from Newtown Rock (A Wallace) hit the men on the rails.

The winner was backed at all prices at Tregaron in August but was hugely unlucky to break a hobble at the start. The win made it a double on the night for Dunne.

The final blow for the five layers at the venue came in the feature event where leading English driver William ‘Rocker’ Laidler and Evenwood Sonofagun pulverised the opposition. He moved up confidently at the half mile pole to go clear.

The result was a near replication of last year’s result when the pair were involved in a dead heat with Patrick Kane and Miraculous.

This time the latter-mentioned pair had no answer to Evenwood Sonofagun, who if he is around this time next year, will be well fancied to become the first horse to win the Crock of Gold three times.

The only Irish runner in the Crock of Gold this year, Porterstown Chris, got in as a reserve and was unplaced.

Irish results can be seen at www.irishharnessracing.com

Cross channel results are at www.bhrc.org.uk