BACK-TO-BACK FOR FAYLA IN CHEEVERS SECOND ROUND ACTION

Peter Farrell

The second round heats of the Ann Cheevers Memorial A4/A5 525 served as the highlight at Galway on Friday night and it was Brickhill Fayla that went quickest with another make-all performance.

A convincing six length winner in the opening round, Brickhill Fayla was installed as the 5/4 favourite as a result and she made no mistakes for joint owners, Cyril Collins and Kate Comerford. Fast away once again from trap four, the daughter of Good News and Twentylittletoes asserted at the opener and proceeded to set a fine gallop thereafter. Blacklabel Rose did recover from a bumpy start to finish at speed, however, this was in vain as ‘Fayla’ stayed on stoutly to win by three parts of a length. The time was a slick 29.04 .10s.

The second heat saw the lead change hands on three different occasions as Matilda Be Slick (Lenson Bocko - Princess Delilah) emerged victorious in the end. 3/1 at the off, Liam Butler’s bitch was out with the washing early on as she occupied the rear positions, however, she began to motor at the midway point. Fortune Sydney was in control at this point but this was short-lived as Matilda Be Slick flew around the bottom two bends before taking charge on the run for home. Drawing clear to win by over two lengths, the time was 29.57 .10s.

The final heat of the night saw another off-the-pace winner as Fast Fit Pennie made it back-to-back wins in the stake and recorded a brilliant seventh career victory in the process. Owned by John Quinn, the daughter of Dorotas Wildcat and Fast Fit Maeve had a bit to do at the halfway mark as Lissatouk Peggy strung the field along, however, ‘Pennie’ has shown her stamina abilities in recent starts and she upped the ante at the penultimate turn. Making fine progress, the 3/1 chance flew home to cross the line one length clear of Lissatouk Peggy in second. The time was 29.35 .10s.

FAST DEBUT FROM TINA

Elsewhere on the card, there was a superb debut performance from Brickhill Tina as the 4/5 chance ran to a virtual solo.

Jointly owned by John Collins and Albert Long, the November 22’ whelp looked a potential star given her slick 29.32 trial effort at the Connacht venue and her performance last night didn’t deflect those signs as she won at her leisure. Running from trap one, ‘Tina’ showed sizzling early pace to recover from a moderate start on the rails and it was all one-way traffic thereafter as she raced to a comprehensive six and a half length victory. The time was a hot 17.87 .5s.