ANOTHER industrious afternoon for Gordon Elliott yielded a double and the trainer has his sights set on Galway with The Very Man who made it three wins on the bounce in the two-mile conditions hurdle.
After coming up short against some decent novices last winter the Gigginstown House Stud-owned gelding got his act together in the spring with wins at Naas and Downpatrick and he returned as good as ever here. Sean O’Keeffe was on board this son of Jeremy who was returned the 13/8 joint-favourite alongside stablemate Recent Revelations and this pair dominated the conclusion. The front running The Very Man proved unyielding in the straight and, hard as he tried, Recent Revelations couldn’t find a way past after holding every chance from before the last. At the line there was a neck between the pair.
“He’s a decent horse who had been running against some good types last winter but he’s gotten plenty of confidence from his last few races,” said Elliott. “This should leave him spot on for Galway where he will have a few entries and maybe the Guinness Handicap Hurdle on the Friday evening could be a nice race for him.”
Durable mare
Elliott also supplied the 5/4 favourite, I’m A Game Changer, for the two-mile conditions chase but after some ragged jumping he could only manage third behind stablemate Make My Heart Fly. The latter was winning the sixth race of her career and was extending a notable two-year sequence that has seen her finish no worse than fifth on her last 18 completed starts. Keith Donoghue was on board the tough and durable mare who led between the final two fences and got home by a length from Scheu Time. There was a further length back to I’m A Game Changer.
The winning jockey was hit with a seven-day ban for attempting to weigh out wearing a body protector with the harness removed.
“She’s a grand mare who always runs her race and anything from two to three miles on nice ground is fine for her,” stated Elliott. “We might try and stick to these conditions races over hurdles and fences and we’ll see can we pick up some more blacktype with her later in the season.”
AN 11lb rise in the ratings for scoring at Tipperary last month wasn’t enough to prevent Gavin Cromwell’s Bread And Butter (7/2) from following up in the 80-109 rated two-and-a-half-mile handicap hurdle. Conor McNamara’s mount eventually subdued the front running Dollar Value after the last flight and went on to defeat Chasing Abbey by two and a quarter lengths.
“I’d say we will look towards Galway where there is a two-mile, five-furlong handicap hurdle that might suit him. He’s only small but he jumps well,” remarked Cromwell of the Show Ponies Syndicate-owned five-year-old.
Big-priced winners are coming thick and fast at the moment and there was another surprise in the offing in the four-year-old bumper where Laureldean Cross struck at 33/1 for owner-trainer Sam Curling. A first winner on the track for jockey Pa King in just under two years, this son of Cape Cross got the front of a tightly packed field with over a furlong to run and reached the line a length ahead of Vartry Avenue.
The winner was making a quick return to the fray after finishing a respectable eighth in a Bellewstown bumper last week.
There was high drama here as the 3/1 favourite Weseekhimhere was almost put off the track when ambitiously trying to thread his way through on the inner and, after losing momentum, he was quickly eased to finish unplaced.
The card began with a tight finish to the Adare Manor Opportunity Maiden Hurdle for horses who had never been placed and the 2/1 favourite, The Wonky Tonk, pulled victory out of the fire in the final yards. Henry de Bromhead trains this son of Fame And Glory for Alan Halsall, and Hugh Morgan did an admirable job in the saddle. The market leader appeared to be hard at work from some way out but Morgan conjured a sustained charge from his mount to edge out Lauderdale Lady on the line.
Jockey Shane Mulcahy, who rode the sixth-placed Hardy Man, was hit with a two-day whip ban.
Macgiloney beats the odds
A DAY of mixed fortunes for punters concluded with a reversal for the odds on Doctor Duffy in the extended three-mile beginners’ chase where he lost out to the useful Denis Hogan inmate Macgiloney who was notching up the sixth success of his 23-race career and could well have found his true calling.
The victorious Michael Moloney-owned seven-year-old did pick up chasing experience at Thurles just prior to racing’s cessation and was always going to relish a this trip having won over three miles on several previous occasions. The Sean Flanagan-ridden gelding was going notably well turning for home and he eventually picked off Doctor Duffy at the last fence en route to a smooth two and a half lengths triumph over the favourite.
A novice chase at Galway is likely to be next for this gelding who could bag a good staying prize at some point this season.
A lengthy spell in the wilderness for Stamp Your Feet (13/2) came to an end in the two-mile handicap chase where the J.P. McManus-owned gelding made a winning debut for Enda Bolger. Formerly with Tom George and once rated 135 over hurdles, this well-related son of Galileo was given a typically adept waiting ride by Mark Walsh. Stamp Your Feet, who was running off a mark of 111, looked set for a minor role at best turning in but Walsh produced him strong effort nearing the last and saw off Roachdale House, whose jockey Luke Dempsey picked up a two-day whip ban.