SEAMIE Heffernan joined forces with Aidan O’Brien for a double at Dundalk yesterday week. Both these horses were subsequently sold at this week’s horses in training sale at Newmarket.
Heffernan’s best haul for an Irish flat season came all the way back in 2007 when he notched up 76 winners. That tally might just be out of reach this time around but he ended this fixture on the 63-winner mark for 2020 which is the second best tally of his career by some distance and is a fitting testament to his superb season.
The first leg of the double was supplied by Vermilion Cliffs in the first division of the extended mile and a quarter maiden. This son of Galileo, who wears the colours of his breeders Flaxman Stables Ireland, was beaten just a neck on his debut at Leopardstown the previous Saturday and he put that experience to good use.
Heffernan had the three-year-old in a challenging position from the turn in and the 5/6 favourite answered his every call to prevail by a neck from Bluebeard’s Castle.
“It was just greenness that beat him last week. He’s a nice horse who actually has very little done and I’d say there is plenty more to come from him,” remarked the winning rider. The winner was bought by Denis Hogan at Tattersalls for 62,000gns.
O’Brien and Heffernan then landed the other division of the 10-furlong maiden with Party Season who was making his third appearance and this son of American Pharoah, a half-brother to the top class American runner Upstart, looked much more at home on this surface than the heavy ground he encountered at Listowel last month.
The 5/2 shot raced on the pace and made the best of his way home from the turn in to defeat Eagle’s Flight by a length and three parts. The in-form apprentice Luke McAteer was hit with an eight-day whip ban for his efforts on the eighth-placed Josephina.
“He’s an immature horse and soft ground has been catching him out. He’s not short of pace and this trip might be his limit at the moment,” declared the rider. Party Season was sold for 160,000gns at Tattersalls during the week and could be heading to the US.
Denis Hogan surpassed last year’s career best haul of 28 winners for an Irish flat season when Scherzando pounced late in the 45-70 rated apprentice rider’s handicap over seven furlongs.
This gelding, who is owned by the Galway Girl Syndicate and Damien Lavelle, was 6lbs higher than when winning over a mile here at the start of October but coped well with his revised mark under Paddy Harnett. Scherzando (9/2) got home by half a length from Jack Berry House.
The winner, who was picked up for a mere £1,000 at the Goffs UK Horses In Training Sale a year ago, sadly met with injury when turned out again here on Wednesday night.
YOUNG apprentice Sam Ewing has made quite an impression in the space of just a few months and the 16-year-old enjoyed an evening to remember by notching up his first double.
After winning a handicap under Colin Keane at the track the previous week Crystal Dawn kicked off Ewing’s double in the Hollywoodbets Fillies Claiming Race over seven furlongs where she denied the former champion jockey and Lilandra.
Gavin Cromwell’s charge was sent off the 9/4 joint favourite with Lilandra and accounted for that rival by half a length. This was a third victory for the Swans High Stool Syndicate-owned filly since she was claimed for €3,000 from a race at this track in February.
The rider then brought up his double on Moving Forward (4/1) in the 45-70 rated handicap over an extended 10 furlongs just a week after being claimed for €12,000. As he continued a fine run for Shane Duffy, this five-year-old recouped half of owner John Keogh’s outlay from the previous week. The patiently-ridden son of Street Cry finished two and a quarter lengths ahead of Time And Money with the unlucky looking Drakensberg shaping well in third.
Colin Keane did not leave Dundalk empty handed after he teamed up with the vastly experienced Pillar to land the 45-65 rated six furlongs handicap. This Adrian McGuinness stalwart is fast closing in on a century of runs and he made it six wins from 93 career starts on this occasion. The Sean Gallagher-owned seven-year-old Pillar (6/1) defeated Red Cymbal by a neck after the pair did battle up front from early on.
SHANE Foley and Jessica Harrington made their mark with a useful-looking two-year-old in Soaring Sky who put the benefit of a barrier trial outing to good use in the Irish EBF Median Sires Series Maiden over a mile.
This Zhang Yuesheng-owned daughter of Free Eagle was allowed to go off at 18/1 but made light of her position in the market with a determined display over the last furlong and a half to edge out the 87-rated favourite Zozimus by a short head.
“Tom Madden rode her in her barrier trial and liked her. She was green and ran around a little in front but she was in front where it mattered. She’ll be a nice filly for next year going a mile and a quarter,” reported Foley.
It was a night to savour for Liam McAteer as the trainer got back amongst the winners for the first time since January 2013 as the Danny Sheehy-ridden Amazing Emma (25/1) came good in the five furlongs nursery.
Yet another winner from the outstanding first crop of Mehmas, this filly is owned by the trainer’s son John and she was returning to the form that saw her reach the frame in nurseries at Cork and the Curragh last month. Amazing Emma defeated the favourite Anjalawi by a length and a quarter.