THE year just keeps getting better for Adrian McGuinness who moved into uncharted territory with the first pattern race winner of his career which came courtesy of Bowerman in the Group 3 Al Basti Equiworld Dubai Diamond Stakes at Dundalk last Friday.
A winner of the Irish Lincoln for McGuinness earlier this season, Bowerman had since shown up well at listed and Group 3 level and was a danger to all as he switched back to a synthetic surface. Colin Keane took his time on the six-year-old and the pair had most of the field to pass approaching the straight. Bowerman (10/1) picked up impressively from the turn in though and got on top inside the last furlong to defeat the 40/1 shot Sky Seven by half a length. The favourite Vatican City could only manage seventh.
“He’s a dream horse to have and I’m delighted for the lads (Total Recall Racing Club) who are very loyal. They’ve been with me since I started and we’ve had 36 or 37 winners,” said McGuinness who could look towards the Middle East with his charge, travel permitting. “I’m lucky to have two or three very nice horses and when you get them you can go to an awful lot more places.”
The Friday nights at Dundalk could be pivotal in the jockey’s title and Colin Keane certainly made this one count as he brought up a treble. The jockey began his evening with a victory on Kieran Cotter’s Ahyoka (15/2) in the five-furlong 45-65 rated handicap. She built on a pleasing handicap debut at the Curragh in August to score by a length and a half from Too Hard To Hold who won at Fairyhouse several days previously.
A winter campaign at Dundalk could be the plan for the Kilmichael Racing Syndicate-owned filly who was giving Cotter his 10th winner of the season.
Keane’s treble was completed by Noel Meade’s Conor Hogan (5/1) in the first division of the 45-65 rated mile-and-a-half handicap. This Patricia Byrne-owned four-year-old had shown enough in the past to suggest a race of this nature could come his way and he made the running for a length-and-a-half victory over Clonard Abbey. The winner is likely to be back at Dundalk before long.
A WEEK previously Kevin Prendergast picked up a handicap at this track with Awtaad’s four-year-old brother Alhaazm, but something far more exciting was in the offing this time as the trainer took the wraps of his Irish 2000 Guineas winner’s juvenile half-sister Mehnah (17/2).
This Hamdan Al Maktoum-owned daughter of Frankel faced no easy task from stall 14 nor how the race unfolded. However, there was lots to like about the manner in which she unwound with a steady charge down the outside from the turn in that carried her to the front deep inside the last furlong. She got home by a length and a quarter from Fantasy Lady and while she will face greater challenges next term, she is certainly a very exciting prospect at this stage.
“She’s a lovely, well-bred filly and she warmed into the race very nicely and I got there easily,” remarked winning rider Chris Hayes. “She’s a big filly and I’d imagine the boss might put her away but there’s plenty to dream about for the winter.”
There was another decent juvenile on show in Inca Prince (9/1) who followed up his barrier trial success at this track several weeks previously with a taking effort in the Foran Equine Irish EBF Auction Maiden over seven furlongs.
The Henry de Bromhead-trained and Eva Filgate-owned son of Fast Company had to contend with a wide draw under Billy Lee, who was standing in for the injured Wayne Lordan, but this mattered little.
Despite a wide trip Inca Prince travelled powerfully and he picked up nicely to assert inside the final furlong and prevail by three parts of a length.
“Henry felt he was a nice horse and was confident he’d run well. I was caught a bit wide on him but he travelled beautifully and won well. He’s a horse with a future and if I had a better trip I’d have won by more,” stated Lee.
The capable Eaglemont (7/1), in the colours of OTI Racing, showed an unplaced run at Navan a fortnight previously to be all wrong as he made a winning handicap debut in the 50-85 rated contest over an extended 10 furlongs. This looked a useful enough affair and Joseph O’Brien’s charge impressed when coming from off the pace under Mikey Sheehy to defeat Golden Valour by three parts of a length.
“He’s a big horse and maybe he’s just coming to himself. He coped well with that surface and I think he has a future. We just had a blip for whatever reason last time,” stated Brendan Powell.
GAVIN Ryan ended the evening with two winners to his name and he struck first on the Natalia Lupini-trained Arnhem in the 45-75 rated Hollywoodbets Apprentice Handicap over six furlongs.
A first winner of the season for the trainer, who owns the four-year-old in partnership with Leslie Laverty, Arnhem came here off two placed runs at this track over a slightly longer trip.
A switch to sprinting worked well as the well backed 5/2 favourite raced on the pace and finished out strongly to defeat Jered Maddox by a length and three parts.
Ryan completed his brace on another well-backed winner in Pure Nature who was also a second winner of the evening for Ado McGuinness in the second division of the mile-and-a-half 45-65 handicap. This Phoenix Thoroughbreds-owned filly had been placed in handicaps on her last two outings and came good at the seventh attempt to reward those that backed her from 6/1 into 7/2 favouritism. The trainer was of the view that this Dansili filly could make a smart juvenile hurdler.