IN the space of just four days Lustown Baba has gone from an 84-rated handicapper to exciting soft-ground sprinter for 2021 as she followed up her tour de force here on Sunday with a clear-cut triumph in the Listed TRM Waterford Testimonial Stakes.
Over this course and distance last weekend the Willie McCreery-trained three-year-old blitzed a field of capable handicappers to score by seven and a half lengths and earn a 16lb hike in the weights to a mark of 100. The Back Road Syndicate-owned filly fully justified that rise with this display which further emphasised her love of soft ground.
Leigh Roche took his time on the 5/2 chance before deftly threading his way through the field to produce Lustown Baba to lead with over a furlong to run. She then went to the line in fine style to score by two and a quarter lengths from Could Be King, with the winner’s stablemate Downforce back in third.
“It’s holding ground out there and I was worried she might be a little far back but she’s won well and I’m delighted for the syndicate as they’ve had to be patient with her this year,” declared McCreery.
“She’s had two quick runs and I don’t see there being much more for her this year so we’ll leave her off and she’ll be an exciting filly to look forward to next year.”
THE jockeys’ title rivals Shane Foley and Colin Keane lit up the remainder of this fixture with five winners between them and the former champion enjoyed a double which he completed on Thefaithfulindian (9/2) who was also giving trainer Aidan Howard a brace on the card.
Thefaithfulindian was a winner at Roscommon a couple of months ago but this Tanya Foxe-owned mare produced much the best effort of her career in the Equilox-sponsored 45-70 rated handicap over a mile and a half.
This five-year-old struck for home early in the straight under Keane and surged clear of a toiling field to eventually score by four and a half lengths from the Foley-ridden Ally Cay. The winner holds an entry at Fairyhouse on Tuesday.
Earlier, Keane teamed up with Sarah Dawson’s Pretty Boy Floyd (11/2) in the Equilux Scientifically Proven System Handicap over six furlongs.
Signs of revival
This P.G. McManus-owned five-year-old was second in the 2017 Tattersalls Ireland Super Auction Sale Stakes and chased home Urban Beat in a Navan maiden early the following season but had to wait until now to get off the mark. After showing signs of a revival when third to Pretty Smart at Navan earlier this month, Pretty Boy Floyd progressed again to defeat the Aidan Howard-trained veteran Enter The Red by a length.
As well as landing the day’s feature Leigh Roche also struck on Aidan Howard’s 33/1 shot Tyrion’s Dream in the second divide of the Equilux-sponsored 45-65 rated seven-furlong handicap. This three-year-old lined up off a series of unplaced runs but produced a revelatory effort from the front. He seemed sure to be picked off by any number of rivals at various stages over the last quarter of a mile but the FHT Syndicate-owned winner held tough to defeat Breaking News by half a length.
“On his last couple of runs the jockeys that rode him liked him but said he didn’t carry them through the race at all so I told Leigh to be positive on him and I’m not surprised he’s won as he works well. He likes this ground too so hopefully we can run him again before the end of the season,” stated Howard.
Foley hits treble to stay in the race
A GREAT day for Shane Foley yielded a precious treble for the jockey as he goes in pursuit of a maiden jockeys’ championship and he teamed up Jessica Harrington for two of those wins, which included an impressive display from Flor De La Luna (7/2) in the Equilux-sponsored mile-and-a-half maiden.
This filly suffered an injury when pulling-up early on in a Roscommon maiden in June and that curtailed what might have been an exciting three-year-old campaign but this Kirsten Rausing-owned daughter of Sea The Moon looks quite a prospect for next year.
She was simply different class to these rivals and tanked her way to the front two furlongs out en route to a three-and-a-quarter-length victory which did little to convey her level of superiority.
“I thought enough of her to put her in the Irish Oaks at the second entry stage but she broke her pelvis coming out of the stalls at Roscommon,” said Harrington.
Emmet McNamara, who rode the third-placed Greek Gladiator, picked up a four-day whip ban for his efforts.
Earlier, Harrington’s Rosie Bassett, who impressed with her debut second over six furlongs at this track last month, successfully dropped back to the minimum trip to justify 13/8 favouritism in the Irish Stallion Farms EBF Maiden. This daughter of Wootton Bassett was soon blazing a trail against the stand’s side in a race where those positioned on the near-side rail dominated, and she accounted for Shelley Banks by a length and a half.
“Shane said she still doesn’t know what she is doing but she’s quick and Shane feels that she’ll be better on better ground,” reported the trainer. “There probably isn’t much left for her this year but it’s great she’s won as she is the first horse that the owners have had. They are from London and Philippa Mains bought her for them at the breeze-up sales.”
Foley also struck aboard Ger O’Leary’s Pretty Rebel in the first divide of the Equilux-sponsored 45-65 rated sevenfurlong handicap. The eighth winner of an industrious season for the O’Leary yard, this 14/1 shot got to the front well over a furlong out and kept on doggedly to defeat Fall For A Kiss by half a length.
“She’s a half-sister to Newgirlintown (won twice for O’Leary this year) and this was probably the first time she’s had a clear run of things,” remarked the trainer. “I must also acknowledge the role of (assistant) Adrian Joyce as things having been going great since he joined us.”