Dublin, Ireland – With just four weeks left to the fourth annual Ladbroke's Vincent Delaney Memorial festival of harness racing, things have been heating up on the 2 year old pacing scene right across the British Isles.
Bookmaker Dan Carlin took quite a lot of ante-post bets before any of the nominated runners had even set foot in a qualifier and over the past fortnight its transpired that some shrewd punters are now sitting pretty on big priced dockets, whist others have already ominously sensed their fate with an uphill battle now on the cards to make the grand finale.
So far there have been eight races for juveniles in the UK and Ireland and the cream is slowly but surely starting to rise to the top. York Raceway have held three events, Tir Prince another two with Corbie Wood, Annaghmore and Aberystwyth all staging one each.
Tir Prince provided the first two clues on June 20th with the Welsh venue holding two separate heats for fillies and colts. Pundits predicted all season that this was to be the year that a filly finally eclipsed the colts in the grand final of the Vincent Delaney Memorial and the filly’s race was won in a quicker time than the colts.
The winner of the fillies contest on the night and arguably the most impressive 2 year old on the scene so far isn’t actually nominated as yet for the Vincent Delaney Memorial. Jessie’s Conquest was mightily impressive at Tir Prince winning by eight lengths in 2.03.8 (and subsequently at Aberystwyth on July 5th when she won again in 2.21.3 on a heavy turf track).
Surely owner/trainer/driver Marc Jones must now be tempted to stump up the late supplementary fee to enable the half-sister to Wexford Beach and Infinatey to take her chance on August 8th.
The winner of the colt’s race at Tir Prince on June 20th was US import, Party At The Spa. Bet into current co-favouritism for the Vincent Delaney Memorial by connections Shane & Claire Fletcher in the ante-post market and this support was justified with an impressive debut win in 2.04.1 at Tir Prince.
Interestingly, the runner-up that night Miraculous, a half-brother to last year’s final winner, Titanium, was able to put his racecourse experience to good use at York a week later when winning the York Gold Division Futurity in 2.01.4. As of today’s date the Sally Teeboon trained colt holds the fastest winning time for 2 year olds in 2015 so far.
York also had a Silver and Bronze Division on the 27th June and these were won by Meadowbranch Queen and Ayrosmith respectively.
Silver Division winner Meadowbranch Queen is destined for greatness if you take into account her breeding being out of Churchill Queen who has produced stellar performers Meadowbranchs Josh, Frank, Romeo, and Demon amongst others. On her debut at York she glided effortlessly to a 2.02.4 win.
Ayrosmith, the winner of the Bronze Division at York is trained by William “Rocker” Laider, wife of the UKs reigning champion trainer Alexis Laider and although he only clocked 2.05.6 on the day, the manner of victory suggested that there was plenty left in the locker.
Onwards to Annaghmore on July 1st when the Northern Irish venue staged Irelands first 2 year old contest of the season. This was won by the Newtown Studs’s Newtown Rock in 2.03.1 with Alan Wallace Junior doing the steering.
The following day at Scottish track Corbie Wood, Gabrielle Camden was guided to victory by Hugh Menzies for owner Hamish Muirhead in 2.12.3 on a sloppy track.
Although the winners of all eight races for juveniles have been highlighted above, there are a number of other exciting 2 year olds currently plying their trade who have not won a race so far but their performances have caught the eye.
Of these, the Meadowbranch Stables trained colt Meadowbranch Titus was mightily impressive when finishing second on 27th June at York, but having only been beaten a length in 2.01.4 he must be considered as a live prospect and one to watch when he next faces the starter.
Others who also caught the eye include Oakwood Destiny who has been runner up twice at both Tir Prince and Annaghmore whilst Porcelain Seelster, On Top Big C, Rogue Diamond, No Stoppin and Coalford Bruce have all clocked under 2.04 on debut in their respective races and can only improve for the initial experience.
As the clock ticks rapidly down towards the 4th annual Vincent Delaney Memorial on August 8th/9th, yet more clues are set to be unveiled in the coming weeks and there’s more scheduled prep races at Portmarnock July 12th & 28th and Tir Prince on 18th July.
By Thomas Bennett, for Harnesslink.com