‘Drombeg Banner’ pulled off a massive shock to win the Callaway Pro-Am at Stud Irish St. Leger Greyhound Final at Limerick last weekend.
Owned/trained by 18-year-old Evan McAuliffe, the son of ‘Explosive Boy’ and ‘Hazelfield Echo’ led from trap rise but connections had to wait for confirmation of a photo finish to confirm that he had held on for this incredible win, and with it a cool prize of €30,000.
‘Drombeg’ was returned at massive odds of 20/1. He finished ahead of the Paul Hennessy-trained ‘Flight Club’, owned in Newcastle West by Carol O’Riordan, with Philip Buckley’s ‘Blastoff Heffo’ in third. The winner was bred by Pat O’Connell, Askeaton.
Limerick’s Adapt Services – which aims to prevent and address the impact of domestic violence and abuse- collected a neat €5,000 as the winning charity nominator, sponsored by Greyhound Racing Ireland.
In earlier races, there were quality local wins for Denis Fraher of Pallasgreen with ‘Brackile Roxy’ (€2,000) and ‘Guleen Ina’ (€1,000) for Tim Gilbourne, Feenagh.