Daily Report

Valentia Club Drag

4th of August

  The Pups/5th of August/. 9 pups were slipped in the valentia puppy drag and at the first and only road crossing it was Gambler that was in front, Son Of Warrenscourt second and cody third, the nine, pups were in a line. At the finish it was Gambler who was still in front and went on to clinch victory by a couple of lenghts, Son Of Warrenscourt finished second, Perhaps his exploits of winning the hard, tough, Kenmare drag, hampered his chances of a third straight win. charlene was third, ferry Darling took fourth, Cathals Choice ran a blinder in fifth, and Cody took sixth.

We will start with the seniors, 26 seniors were slipped, in a glorious evening in Valentia Island. The word from the first and second crossing was that Hard To Say was leading, with the dogs nicely bunched together. At the third road crossing, there were four dogs clear setting a fierce pace, Hard To say and Trebor, were first and second, and John McGills, Jessie and Saphire Jet were third and fourth. At the last crossing at the bridge road, Hard To Say was still in front, now Jackson, Joker and the Bird were making ground and were sitting in just behind.On for the finish and 6 dogs showed in the last field, and it was Hard to Say, by Thomes Murry who prevailed, This now his fourth win in kerry. His kennel mate Trebor finished second, Jackson third, Joker fourth, The Bird fifth, and Jessie took sixth.

In the maidens, I was told that, Sam and Daisy, led the first two roads, I was at the third road and Sam and Daisy were well and truely clear, even as early as this point there was no cathing them. On for the finish, and Daisy just beat her kennel mate Sam by a head. Thease two had maintained there lead and were well clear, warrenscourt May led the next bunch and took third, Podge fourth, Jasper finished strong in fifth, and Ballintemple Lad sixth.

Kenmare Inter County Draghunt

31st of July

It was a lovely day in Kenmare and there was a terrific buzz around Kenmare town, Where the Kerry boys, and Cork boys shared a drink or two before the drag, and thrashed out who they taught was going to take home the cup. Hard To Say and Jackson were installed as the 3/1 favorites. The first crossing at the Killarney road the pundits said it was Little Vick that was leading the pack, the next crossing at Dan McCarteys Trebor, Saphire Jet, and Hard To Say were leading the way, 14 dogs clear at this stage. the 14th dog was Get Smart who would have a big part to play from here on in. The next Crossing which also crosses the Killarney road it was Hard to Say and Trebor both owned by Thomas Murry ICDA Cork who were leading the way, Get Smart was closing in on the front runners here and he hurled the wire at ease. On for the finish, and as the dogs showed in the last field in was The Bird who was in front, Jessie was second and Get Smart third, Suddenly Get Smart lifted his head, seen the crowd and put in what was described as a mind blowing finish by many, to open away from the bird and jessie and win by 9 or 10 lenghts. Hard To Say finished second, Jessie third and the Bird ended up taking fourth, Trebor fifth and Little Vick was too strong for Blue Machine to take Sixth. This was a huge win for Dan Conner and his family, as the Kenmare Drag is widely regarded as the biggest drag in Kerry, and was nick named the Kerry All Ireland. This dog, Get Smart is bred out of the famous  Dairy One, and this dog is only 3 years, so there is no reason that he wont add more trophys to Dan's mantlepeace.
In the Maidens the report from the road crossings was that Joleen, lead the most of them, which turned out to be the case, as she came home the walk away winner. Podge was second, Danny Boy took third, Sam fourth, Border Magic fifth, and the in form Son Of Randy sixth, as a result, Ciaran Smith kept up his record of always taking a ticket in Kenmare.
In the Puppy drag, Son Of Warrenscourt was installed as 2/1 favorite. At the first crossing it was Gambler who was in front with Son Of Warrenscourt second. And as the pups showed about a mile out from the finish, it appeared to be Van Gogh who was in front, and Son Of Warrenscourt second, as the pups came to the line it was Son Of Warrenscourt who was in front and he opened away to win by a big margin. It was a great win by Son Of Warrenscourt, who you would have to say is puppy champion in all but name. Van Gogh a brother of the winner took second, Harmony third, Cody fourth, Gambler took fifth, and Blue warrior finished sixth.

Ballinskelligs Club Drag 22nd +23rd of July

We start with the pups, 11 pups were slipped and at the first crossing Gambler was in front closely followed by Son Of Warrenscourt, There was 6 pups clear here. Now the pups had to travel through the trickey and tough'st part of the course the (ceanna) slough, This is usually where the strongest prevail, which turned out to be the case, as at the next road crossing, there was 3 pups clear, all big dogs Gambler in front followed by Son Of Warrenscourt and Cody. On for the finish and thease 3 pups were well clear of the rest, Gambler was leading coming to the line only to be overtaken by Son Of Warrenscourt right at the death, Cody just behind to take third, There was a great battle for fourth in which "candi" Bobby Burton Valentia Club, showed a great turn of foot, to go from 6th to 4th within a blink of an eye. harmony 5th and Charlene took 6th.
In the senior drag 19th senior hounds were slipped, The day was very misty and foggy which was a shame because we could'nt see the dogs travel out the higgest mountain in south west kerry which is known by the locals as Mike Caseys. On to the first crossing at (shaters), the dogs had been running nearly twenty minutes and it was Princess Sally who was in front closely followed by Jackson, Hi Quest and randy. On for the finish and it was Jackson who took the honours winning by 4 or 5 lenghts. Jessie second, Ferry Beamish third, Hi Quest 4th, Saphire Jet fifth, and Get Smart sixth.
In the Maidens Little Vick lead the first crossing with Sam 2nd, At the finish it was Little Vick who came out on top, just edging out Cracker who took second. Son Of Randy finished very strong in third, Ferry Sally fourth, Daisy fifth, and Gyspy who is showing great form at the moment, finished sixth.

  14th +15th July

Killoe Club Drag

We start with senior drag, It was a lovely cool evening in killoe with 21 senior hounds being slipped. As the crowd watched the hounds heading out the hill it appeared to be Saphire Jet that was leading the pack, At the first crossing it was Ranger owned by Johnny Croinn who was setting the pace, leading the way with a good pack of dogs tucked in behind. At the second crossing(Gorteen) it was Dawn Mist that was in front also owned by Johnny Croinn, with 11 dogs sitting in behind her, thease 12 hounds clear of the pack. The next Crossing was the famous Killoe gap (where many a great hound fell!) and it was last years winner Ferry Beamish who was now in front, with Jessie, Blue machine and Jackson right up behind him for company, there was 8 dogs in this bunch clear of the pack. On for the finish and due to some excellent camara work by Mike Joe Driscoill, he was able to give a commentary on what dogs were in front, which was plain to see on the camara afterwards. It was jessie, Jackson and ferry Beamish who were taking the lead from each other, when the dogs emerged into the last field it was now a two horse race with jessie and jackson battling it out. Jackson looked to have the upper hand coming to the line only for Jessie putting in a blistering final dash to beat him by a lenght. Ferry beamish third blue lightening fourth, Saphire Jet fifth, and a great battle for sixth which blue machine took, just edging out Ranger.
In the Maidins The report from the road crossings were that Atlantis, Bobby Burton lead the first road and Timmy Galvins Rickey leading at the gap. Another great race towards the line with Joleen leading the pack into the last field only to be beaten by travel Mist, who put in a great finish to win by five or six lenghts. Atlantis took third, Sam, fourth Podge fifth and gyspy sixth.
It was a wet foggy friday evening at the puppy drag with 18 pups being slipped. Gambler owned by John Mcgill led the first crossing, and was still in front at the second crossing with Ballinard Diamond, Son of Warrenscourt, Reen Diamond and Harmony right up behind him. At the Killoe gap we struggled to see the dogs due to the fog, and when the dogs appeared it was Son Of Warrenscourt in front all alone with an astonishing lead from the rest of the pack. On for the finish and again we could'nt see much outside the line with the fog, and it was Gambler who crossed the line first pushed all the way by Ballinard Diamond, Son Of Warrenscourt finished third, whatever he did that he lost his lead and only finished third we will never know. Cody was fourth, Harmony fifth and Charlene sixth.
The Killoe drag was and is one of my favorite venues, where the fast hounds who get out, stay out!!