Fitzgerald ‘dreaming’ of Sprint glory in Bar 1 Betting decider

SIX of the fastest two bend greyhounds in Ireland will go to traps this Saturday night chasing a first prize of 20,000 euro which will go to the winner of the 2026 Bar 1 Betting Irish Sprint Cup.

The August 15th meeting at the County Louth venue is firmly established as one of the premier family days out on the racing calendar – the dual race day also featuring horse racing and loads of fun and games for the younger generation.

The action of the greyhound front will be fast and furious with all eyes on the Sprint Final over 401 yards. Montana Secret (Signet Ace – Droopys Alice) trained by John Linehan and owned by Barry and Martin O’Reilly from Cork recorded the fastest time (20.97) in winning the second semi final from Bomber Nina.

The winning margin was one length with a further length and quarter back to the third – the locally trained Barefoot On Fire trained by Martin Lanney. Five dogs went to traps in the opening semi with quarter final winner Crafty Coolio, a leading fancy, withdrawn by connections after sustaining an injury.

The Christopher Delaney trained Rallying Billy recorded his first win of the stake as the son of Ballymac Cashout and Rallying Saidson made all for a comfortable success in a time of 21.12.

Trouble in behind the leader resulted in the Colm Fitzgerald trained Tiermana Dream coming out of the pack to take the runners up spot while the David Murray trained Buddy Bruno just edged out Yurty McGurty to book his place in the big decider.

 

The all important traps draw for the final:

Trap One – Barefoot On Fire

Trap Two – Montana Secret

Trap Three – Rallying Billy

Trap Four – Buddy Bruno

Trap Five – Bomber Nina

Trap Six – Tiermana Dream

 

Three of the trainers in Saturday night’s final are hoping to secure their second win in Ireland’s Premier Sprint Classic.

In 2024 the imperious Broadstrand Syd set a new track record on his way to victory for John Linehan while twelve months

previous Carrick Aldo secured top honours for David Murray. One has to go back to 2007 for the win of Johnny Gatillo for the kennel of Martin Lanney.

The 2026 final is without doubt one of the most open for many years. Cases could be made for all six runners. Five inside seeds and one middle seed which is drawn in trap six. For that reason alone, Tiermana Dream, trained by Colm Fitzgerald, may enjoy a clearer passage to the all important run to the first corner. Dreams do come through sometimes!!!

The greyhound actions also features a number of open races and sweepstake finals while action from the second round of the

Irish Greyhound Derby will also be featured on screens throughout the stadium.

The first greyhound race in Dundalk is scheduled to get underway at 8pm.

Written by Peter Bayne for Newry Democrat