With €4,000 up for grabs to the winner, the Galway A3/A4 525 certainly was a prize worth winning and Crafty Orlando was to justify his outright favouritism with a blistering performance last night for Claregalway man Shane Divilly.
Crafty Orlando came into the event with a big reputation after posting some sensational sprint times around Clonmel, but he didn’t get everything his own way throughout the duration of the stake. The likes of Ballygraigue Ten and Glynnscross Liz both caught the eye in the earlier rounds, and it had all the makings of a competitive affair at the Connacht venue heading into the decider.
George McDonagh with the commentary of the race:
That said, it proved a more straightforward task in the end for Crafty Orlando as he took control on the run-up, and it was to be lights out thereafter for his rivals. Sent to traps as the 4/5 favourite, the son of Skywalker Canny and Dower Bud was to take his best break to date from trap four as he posted a 3.22 sectional on route to displaying that ferocious early pace which enabled him to take control entering the opener. At this point, Glynnscross Liz was the nearest challenger but early skirmishing saw the talented tracker hit the deck and it was Ballygraigue Ten who shot up the inside to give chase into the back straight.
Crafty Orlando was setting a brilliant gallop however, and Divilly’s charge was never under threat of surrendering his advantage. Well on his way to glory, Crafty Orlando stayed on stoutly up the home straight and he was two and three parts of a length better off crossing the line. Ballygraigue Ten made a gallant effort to claim second, while Fast Fit Lucky filled the podium back in third. The time was an exceptional 28.79 .10s and expect to hear more from Crafty Orlando in the coming weeks and months.
