HRI Review

Racing Review

Favourites Dominate At Downpatrick On Monday

Punters certainly had the best of things at the Bank Holiday meeting at Downpatrick on Monday where six of the seven races were either won by a favourite or a joint-favourite. Willie Mullins and Ruby Walsh landed the opening maiden hurdle with 8/13 favourite Didero Vallis and the champion jockey went on to complete a double when the Peter Fahey-trained Small World, the 7/4 market leader, won the 2m5f handicap hurdle. The Des McDonogh-trained Alterno, sent off a well-supported 7/2 favourite, won the 2m3f handicap hurdle in the hands of Davy Russell while the Andrew Lynch-ridden Jimmy Two Times won the beginners’ chase for local trainer Brian Hamilton at odds of 8/15 favourite. Also over fences, the Enda Bolger-trained William Du Berlais won the handicap in great style under Mark Walsh. He was returned the 6/4 favourite and at the same price Days Without End beat fellow joint-favourite Boris Grishenko to land the bumper for Dermot Weld and Finny Maguire. At odds of 5/1, Polymath was only fourth choice in the 2m5f maiden hurdle but he made all the running to win for Gordon Elliott and Jack Kennedy who is certainly finding his stride again after a lengthy spell on the sidelines.  

Four Winners For Pat Smullen At Roscommon On Monday

Pat Smullen took Roscommon by storm on Monday and greatly boosted his chances of retaining the champion jockey’s crown with four winners. He shared two of them with Ardee, County Louth trainer Harry Rogers, the pair landing the 10f handicap with 3/1 chance Ontheiflist and the Sean Cleary Memorial Handicap with 10/1 shot Lord Erskine. Tracey Collins gave Smullen his first winner of the session when 5/1 chance Sollerita won the 7f auction race while the Dermot Weld-trained Knowing You, backed from 7/1 to 3/1 at the track, took the 7f maiden for three-year-olds. Madeleine Tylicki won the two-year-old maiden over the same distance with the Billy Lee-ridden 15/8 joint-favourite Sirjack Thomas. The 7f handicap was won by 8/1 chance Youceeyouceecee which was ridden for trainer Susan Finn by Killian Leonard. Another apprentice on the mark was Kilcock’s Robbie Downey who partnered the Eddie Lynam-trained 5/2 chance Giorini Felice to a cosy success in the 10f maiden. The handicap over the same trip went to On The Go Again, a 13/2 chance, which is trained by Mick Mulvaney and ridden by Gary Carroll.  

Second Success In Five Days For Kilganer Queen

Denise O’Shea’s Kilganer Queen scored her second success in the space of just five days when taking the 2m4f handicap hurdle at Ballinrobe on Tuesday. Previously a winner at Sligo, the seven-year-old got the better of Eiri Na Casca to win at odds of 8/1 for jockey Brian Hayes and the Cloyne, County Cork trainer. Joseph O'Brien sent out Valgor Du Ronceray, the 5/4 favourite, to win the opportunity maiden hurdle under Shane Shortall and the only other winning favourite on the card was Noel Meade’s Major Destination which won the beginners’ chase under Sean Flanagan at odds of 7/4. Mark Walsh and Davy Russell were on the mark at Downpatrick on the previous afternoon and they were both back in the winners’ enclosure here. Walsh partnered 20/1 chance Getoutwhenyoucan to win the 2m handicap hurdle for Austin Leahy while Russell teamed up with Gordon Elliott to win the conditions’ chase with 5/2 shot The Game Changer. Listowel is very much on the agenda for Alaliya which won the 3m1f handicap hurdle for Craughwell-based Ger Lynch and conditional rider Liam Gilligan at odds of 13/2. Jamie Codd won the bumper on the John Queally-trained 7/1 chance Gataway Katie Mai.  

First Career Double For Danny Sheehy At Bellewstown On Wednesday

Graignamanagh, County Kilkenny apprentice Danny Sheehy enjoyed the first double of his career at odds of 1406/1 at Bellewstown on Wednesday evening. A son of trainer Eamon Sheehy, Danny landed the claiming race on 66/1 shot Accladora for local Stamullen trainer Tom McCourt before scoring a 20/1 success on the Seamus Fahey-trained Bert Leaf in the second division of the 8f handicap. The first leg of the same race went to 12/1 chance Moyhayyen which is trained by Conor O’Dwyer and was partnered by Killian Leonard. More senior riders also got in on the winning act with former champion jockey Declan McDonogh landing two winners of his own. He took the 5f handicap on the Liam Lennon-trained Haqeeba, a 10/1 shot, and followed up on 7/2 joint-favourite High Expectations for Gordon Elliott in the 12f handicap. The season’s leading rider Colin Keane was on the mark on 7/4 favourite Poetic Light for Ger Lyons in the auction maiden while Billy Lee won the 5f maiden on Willie McCreery’s even money favourite Abamanova and Gary Carroll took the 12f handicap with 11/2 chance On The Go Again, a second winner of the week for Kells, County Meath trainer Mick Mulvaney.  

Opening Race Double For Mullins And Walsh At Bellewstown On Thursday

Willie Mullins and Ruby Walsh shared two winners at Bellewstown on Thursday evening, the pair taking the opening races with two odds-on favourites. Low Sun, a 4/6 chance, only led late on to take the maiden hurdle but Mystic Theatre had a far easier time of it in the mares’ hurdle, scoring as she liked at odds of 2/9. Denis Hogan both trained and rode 14/1 chance Mezajy to success in the 2m handicap hurdle while 22/1 shot Runyon Rattler prevailed won a similar race over the same distance for Philip Rothwell and conditional rider James O’Sullivan. Shane Shortall enjoyed his second winner of the week for Joseph O'Brien when he guided 14/1 chance Young Turk to success in the 2m4f maiden hurdle. There was another 14/1 winner when Paul Townend just beat the O’Brien-trained Immortal Bridge on Edmond Kent’s Thanks For Tea in the 3m handicap hurdle while an easier winner to find was 4/5 favourite Youghal By The Sea which just held on under Lisa O’Neill to win the bumper for Gordon Elliott and owner Jerry Russell, father of Davy.  

Notable Flat Win For Henry de Bromhead At Tipperary

No stranger to high-profile success in bumpers and over hurdles and fences, Henry de Bromhead landed his biggest Flat win to date when Gorane won the Listed Kilfrush Stud Abergwaun Stakes at Tipperary on Thursday evening. The Group 2 Derrinstown Stud Flying Five at the Curragh this weekend is a possibility for the 14/1 winner which was completing a double for jockey Declan McDonogh who had won the opening 5f handicap on the Andy Slattery-trained Comhghairdeas at odds of 5/1. British challenger Realtra, trained by Roger Varian, recorded her second win on this side of the Irish Sea this season when taking the Group 3 Coolmore Stud Fairy Bridge Stakes under Colin Keane. The winner was returned at odds of 4/1 and came wide into the straight to beat Drumfad Bay in good style. Kevin Prendergast and Chris Hayes teamed up to win the claiming maiden with 12/1 chance Blue Petal while Ross Coakley added to his Tote Irish Cambridgeshire win of the previous Sunday when landing the apprentice handicap on Paul Deegan’s 8/1 shot Cracking Name. Aidan O'Brien shared two winners with his son Donnacha, the pair taking the fillies’ maiden with 1/2 favourite Sizzling and the 12f maiden with 7/2 Squire’s Tale. Willie Mullins struck with two odds-on favourites at Bellewstown on the same evening and he was also victorious with 1/5 favourite Riven Light, among the big winners at the Galway festival, in the conditions’ race over 9f. Pat Smullen was on board the easy winner.

Rashaan Stars At Down Royal On Friday

Rashaan was very much the star of the show at Down Royal on Friday but he had to work hard to land the Kerry Foods Hurdle for Bagenalstown, County Carlow trainer Colin Kidd and Sean Flanagan. Sent off the even money favourite, the five-year-old caught the front-running Wakea in the closing stages to win by a short-head. Flanagan had enjoyed an easier time of it on 8/1 chance Bosco Di Alco which won the 2m4f maiden hurdle for Crossabeg, County Wexford trainer Liz Doyle. The 4/1 shot Dixie Lee took the mares’ maiden hurdle for Dermot McLoughlin and Mark Enright and the Ratoath, County Meath trainer went on to complete a double when 10/1 shot Uptake won the 2m6f handicap hurdle under Conor Maxwell. Karl Thornton, who trains in Skerries, County Dublin, won the 2m handicap hurdle with the Barry John Foley-ridden Sierra Law which ran out a good winner at odds of 13/2 while Ted Walsh and his son Ruby combined to land the opening three-year-old maiden hurdle with 7/1 chance Minnie Dahill. Willie Mullins and his son Patrick won the final race of the evening when 1/3 favourite True Self took the mares’ bumper.  

A Rated Makes It Two Over Fences At Wexford On Saturday

Trainer Liam Kenny has a lovely sort on his hands in the shape of A Rated which added to his win over fences at Kilbeggan with a battling success in the novice chase at Wexford on Saturday. The 7/2 chance battled well to see off Sharlanda and Ask Nile to score under amateur rider Barry O’Neill. Also over fences, the Robert Tyner-trained Massinis Adventure won the 3m1f handicap under Phillip Enright at odds of 10/1 while at half those odds, Magnetic Force, trained by Robbie Hennessy and ridden by Andrew Lynch won the 2m handicap chase. The Joseph O'Brien-trained Successor got up on the line to win the 2m maiden hurdle under Mark Walsh at odds of 4/1 and the mares’ handicap hurdle went to 13/2 chance Miss Sassie which was ridden for local trainer Paul Nolan by Davy Russell. Conditional rider James O’Sullivan rode his second winner of the week when 7/1 shot Cantkidakidder took the 2m4f handicap hurdle for trainer Noel Dooly and another youngster on the mark was Cathal Landers who partnered 5/4 favourite High Nellie to a cosy victory for trainer Michael Bowe in the 3m mares’ maiden hurdle.  

Keane And Smullen Land A Winner Apiece At Navan

Championship rivals Colin Keane and Pat Smullen ended the week with four winners between them after they each rode at winner at Navan on Saturday. Keane partnered the Ger Lyons-trained 2/1 favourite Blue Uluru to success in the nursery handicap before the reigning champion hit back with a ready success on Aidan Howard’s 3/1 favourite The Last Indian in the opening division of the 10f handicap. The pair have ridden 65 and 61 winners this season respectively.The second leg of the same race went to the Patrick Hassett-trained 8/1 shot Happy Company which was ridden by Dublin apprentice Daniel Redmond. Another 5lbs claimer on the mark was Killian Leonard who partnered the Ross O’Sullivan-trained 12/1 shot Doonard Prince to a narrow success in the near-6f handicap. Over the same distance, 4/1 chance Powersville won the auction maiden for Tom Mullins and Niall McCullagh while Intelligence Cross, the 8/13 favourite, won the conditions’ race for Aidan O'Brien and his son Donnacha. Lucca got up late under Ronan Whelan to win the 1m6f handicap for trainer Jarleth Fahey while €1.7 million purchase Goldrush made a winning start for Jim Bolger and Kevin Manning in the 1m maiden.

Racing News

Meyler Dominates As Ireland Wins Australia v Ireland Jockey Challenge 

After his success earlier in the week on 20/1 chance Celtic Prince at Murray Bridge, Kilkenny jockey Donagh Meyler dominated the final two legs of the Australia vs Ireland jumps series on Irish Day at Morphettville, Adelaide earlier on Saturday morning. Meyler won the chase on 17/2 chance Pentomatic for Cranbourne, Melbourne trainer Eric Musgrove and followed up on the David Hayes-trained Dane Hussler, the 11/10 favourite in the hurdle, enjoying a remarkable 100% strike-rate from his three rides. Those final day successes ensured an easy win for Meyler and Rachael Blackmore over their Australian counterparts and an emphatic final score line of 55 points to 35. Pentomatic, an eight-year-old entire by Pentire, won by four lengths but Rachael Blackmore had no luck at all on the winner’s stable-mate Abebe which was sent off a short-priced favourite yet trailed in last of the five finishers. The champion conditional rider partnered the well fancied Melbourne contender Transfixed in the hurdle but the 2/1 chance finished a well beaten sixth behind six-year-old mare Dane Hussler, whose training team sent out Group winners Vega Magic and Formality at Caulfield and Randwick the same afternoon. This was the 31st consecutive year that an Irish team has been invited to Australia to participate in the jockey challenge. It was the 42nd contest staged in the two countries, with Ireland now taking the honours on 26 occasions, Australia winning 15 times and there has been one drawn series. 

Seventh Jog for Jockeys a Huge Success

The seventh renewal of Jog for Jockeys 5km and 10km charity fundraiser, in aid of Irish Injured Jockeys took place at Naas Racecourse on Sunday, August 27. Last year’s 5km winner, ex-jockey, Kevin Coleman was first past the post again in a time of 18:18, followed very closely by jockey Keith Donoghue in 18:23. Michelle Cox from Newbridge AC was the first female to cross the 5km line in a time of 20:12, with Katie Young from Gordon Elliott’s, in second place at 22.09. Patrick O’Connor from Lisselton, County Kerry defended his 2016 title in the 10km race with an impressive time of 37:33, followed by Pat Malone, former jockey and Turf Club Official, in a time of 37:40.  Elaine O’Donovan, head girl for Eoin Griffin and winner of the Horse Care Award at the 2017 Godolphin Stud and Stable Staff Awards was the first female home in the 10km race with a time of 46:59, followed by Helena Burns in 48:37. The 5km equine team event was won by ‘The Galloping Donkeys’, led by 5km winner Kevin Coleman and his friends Larry Carroll, John Barry, Richie Cuddihy and Declan Ryan on 24 points, with Gordon Elliott’s yard in second place. Team Godolphin were well represented by Joe Osborne, Gerry Duffy, Clodagh Kavanagh and the current Godolphin Flying Start trainees.

Barry Geraghty Set For Another Spell On The Sidelines

Barry Geraghty is facing another three weeks on the sidelines after fracturing his right shoulder in a fall at the recent Killarney festival. The former champion jockey only returned to action at the Galway festival after breaking his left arm in the BoyleSports Irish Grand National at Fairyhouse in April.  

Horse Racing Ireland Launches New Racehorse Ownership Website

Horse Racing Ireland has launched a stand-alone website dedicated to the promotion of racehorse ownership at all levels in Ireland and a new promotional video which highlights the ownership experience. The website, www.racehorseownership.ie, provides potential owners with all they need to know in relation to taking the first steps into racehorse ownership. Key features include searching potential trainers by location and cost; a design application to view selected racing colours; an information section for potential owners based outside of Ireland and details on membership opportunities for various racing syndicates and clubs. This is the first phase of the website, additional interactive features will be added over the coming months.