Landmark event as National Coursing Meeting celebrates centenary in Tipperary

Above: The Ryan family from Golden, Stephen, Caitriona and John; and trainer assistant David Lonergan with Sandyman Soldier. Now jointly owned by John Boyle, the dog has been renamed Boylesportsmajor and is a leading fancy for the Boyle Sports Derby

A significant milestone will be celebrated in Clonmel this weekend when the 100th National Coursing Meeting takes place.

189 greyhounds will compete over the three days of the meeting on Saturday, Sunday and Bank Holiday Monday, January 31, February 1 and 2, for a total prize fund of almost €250,000.

The hare coursing meeting was held for the first time in 1925. It has missed only two years since then - in 1968, when there was an outbreak of Foot and Mouth Disease, and in 2021 because of Covid.

For the first five years greyhounds competed in the National Breeder and Produce Stakes, with the Derby and Oaks beginning in 1930.

To commemorate the centenary, each qualifier this year will receive a sterling silver medallion and a walkout jacket with the Irish Coursing Club’s 100-year logo.

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Five of those qualifiers come from the kennels of trainers David Flanagan and Margaret Barrett in Rathluskin, Fethard. They have enjoyed a great season so far, winning on the first weekend in Liscannor, Clare with a bitch called Pink Pony Club, which is owned by the New Gang Syndicate, which includes members of the Flanagan family.

Since that first weekend success in Clare they have won four more trial stakes for the National Meeting, two in the Boylesports Derby and three in the Horse and Jockey Hotel Oaks.

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Their other contenders in the Oaks are Centenary Anne, which is owned by Clonmel man Fergus Flynn, who won’t have far to travel to the meeting as he lives in The Bungalow at Powerstown Park; and Tell On Fairy, which is owned by Fethard man Pat Cormack, who is affectionately known as “Fairy”, and Darren Byrnes in Golden.

David Flanagan and Margaret Barrett’s hopes in the Derby will be carried by Data Bank, which is owned by a very popular owner, Paul Horig, who is based in The Bahamas; and Jiving Intherain, owned by the Jiving syndicate in Norfolk in England.
David Flanagan’s neighbour in Fethard, owner/trainer Conor O’Donnell, has two qualifiers in the Oaks, Slanestown Molly and Slanestown Ruby.

John Kennedy and family from Rathbeg in Gortnahoe will be treble-handed at the meeting, with So Good in the Oaks, and two dogs in the Derby, Good Energy and Wonder Man, the latter winning one of the very last qualifiers for the meeting held in Tubbercurry in Sligo.

Trainer Kevin Barry from Rosegreen, no stranger to success at the National Meeting, has nine runners, including the Derby favourite, Boylesportsmajor. The dog, owned by John Ryan and family in Golden, was previously known as Sandyman Soldier but after winning Corn na Féile in Abbeyfeale, Co. Limerick, John Boyle of Boylesports bought a half-share, and the dog was renamed Boylesportsmajor.

Another of Kevin Barry’s fancies in the Derby is Tree Top Oisín, which runs for David Lonergan in Cahir.

A few raiders from north Tipperary include Chubbys Max in the Derby, which is owned by the O’Meara family in Nenagh, while Pat Guilfoyle and family from Cloughjordan will be represented by Magical Titan in the Derby and Magical Nina in the Oaks.

The Galloping Lads syndicate have two very strong representatives, Moyle Alonzo and Moyle Magic, in the Champion Dog and Bitch Stakes. Both ran in the Derby and Oaks last year, and between them this season have won four all-age cups. Moyle Alonzo reached the finals day in the last eight of the Derby in 2025, as well as winning the Kingdom Cup at Christmas, while Moyle Magic was beaten in the final of last year’s Irish Cup. Both are quietly fancied to do well at Powerstown.

The syndicate includes Pat Creed and William Burke from Clonmel and Jim Moore from Carrick-on-Suir.

Another fancy for the Oaks is Shineon. This one is owned by a youth syndicate known as The Future Syndicate, which comprises 200 members from the ages of 1 to 18 from coursing clubs around the country.

Bernard Matthews, the celebrated and successful greyhound trainer and breeder from Newry, kindly donated Shineon as a pup to the syndicate. After winning an Oaks trial stake in North Kilkenny in December, the syndicate members will be cheering her on at Powerstown Park.

This year, three extra stakes are being run on finals day on Monday, February 2.
There are eight qualifiers in the final of the National Workers Championship, which is for qualifiers from all the working members’ stakes at coursing meetings around the country.

There are also eight qualifiers for the Powerstown Cup, a three-course championship.
The extra stakes have generated considerable interest and excitement among people who otherwise wouldn’t have a runner on the last day of a coursing meeting.

Meanwhile, the Elite Coursing Sapling Auction created a great buzz last year, and will be repeated at this year’s meeting. This will see four saplings put up for auction during the interval on finals day on Monday.

Who knows, the dogs could even return to Powerstown Park next year to run up that famous hill in a bid for coursing glory.