THOUGHTS were with the late John Fleming after Celeron, who he previously co-owned, won the Group 2 Gain Railway Stakes in fine style under Oisin Murphy. Murphy positioned the course-and-distance winner two lengths behind Carry The Flag, who blazed a trail down the centre of the track, while Tribeca raced alone closer to the stands.
Asked to quicken approaching the two-furlong marker, Celeron led a furlong out, with Confucius (11/10f) and Tribeca either side.
Murphy’s mount found an extra gear 110 yards out and was pushed out to score by three lengths.
Tribeca finished second, a length and a quarter ahead of the favourite, who finished just a short head in front of 50/1 shot The Scallionator.
Eleanora Kennedy, who makes up the New Morning Syndicate with Mrs Fetherston and Fleming’s wife Marian, later remarked: “A Group 2 at the Curragh on a day like this, it couldn’t be better.”
Tribute
O’Callaghan continued: “Harvey, John [Fleming], was a massive supporter of our yard and me from a young age and none of this would be possible without him. He kept me going through thick and thin, and this is for him.”
On Celeron, the trainer commented: “I was a little bit worried about the trip today – six furlongs looks like his minimum. As he steps up to seven furlongs and a mile, we’ll see the best of him.
“Oisin said that he found the pace mid-race a little bit hot for him, but he said the horse has plenty of class and that he took plenty of pulling up.
“He’ll probably get a little bit of a rest now and we’ll look for something at the end of August. His next run will be over seven furlongs; he could be a horse to go a mile next May.”
Relief
Jessica O’Gorman may have had a little luck from above when guiding Mary Shoelaces (22/1) to success in the WTW Willis Handicap, a race Eddie and Patrick Harty’s mare also won in 2024.
Racing prominently throughout, the blinkered five-year-old came under pressure two furlongs out and kept finding to deny Harry’s Hill by half a length.
“That would have meant a lot to Jessica,” Patrick Harty revealed. “Her uncle died very suddenly last weekend. She was very close to him and used to ring or text before every ride.”
It was also a lift for the trainers, Harty added: “Our horses got sick in May and it’s been a bit of a struggle to get them back right and running well. It’s a massive relief.”
BRITISH horses filled the first four places in the Tulfarris Hotel And Golf Resort Sapphire Stakes, as Simon and Ed Crisford’s Cover Up silenced any theories that the six-year-old was a better horse in Dubai, the scene of his three previous stakes wins.
The Khalifa Saeed Sulaiman-owned gelding had no luck in the King Charles III Stakes at Royal Ascot but enjoyed a clear passage under a patient James Doyle here. Ridden before the two-furlong pole, he hit top gear a furlong out and finished strongly to lead close home, asserting by three-parts of a length on the line.
David Loughnane’s Partisan Hero took second, a length in front of long-time leader Jakajaro, while Rosy Affair (5/2f) completed a 1-2-3-4 for the raiding party.
“He’s a really-really wonderful horse to have in the stable; he’s a high-quality sprinter,” Ed Crisford said of the 10-time winner.
“We thought this track would suit him well. I was a little bit worried because there was no rain and we always thought he liked to get his toe in a bit – he’s won on heavy and Meydan is so well-watered, but he did it very well in the end.”
The Nunthorpe Stakes is next on the agenda for Cover Up, with a return to the Curragh a possibility for the Flying Five Stakes.
Valuable prize
Thirty-five minutes earlier, Mick and David Easterby’s Sondad (9/2f) beat John and Sean Quinn’s Dark Thirty in the €100,000 Liverpool FC Foundation Scurry Handicap.
Joanna Mason kept the five-year-old close to the pace and quickened before the two-furlong pole. The Gary Routledge-owned gelding rallied alongside the eventual runner-up, with the pair passing longtime leader Genesis 110 yards out, from which Sondad went on to win by half a length, with another three lengths back to the Rockingham winner.
“What a race,” said Mason. “This horse has got me to some amazing meets; Royal Ascot, winning at Epsom two years running. I have to thank the owners, my granddad - the boss - and my uncle for allowing me to ride him.
“We’ll definitely have a look at coming back for Champions Weekend. There’s also the Stewards’ Cup and we always love to have an Ayr runner as well. He was second or third in the Silver Cup and, obviously, we’re hoping we can go for the Gold Cup. We’ll see what the boss says.”
Moody completes hat-trick in style in Meadow Court Stakes
PADDY Twomey took the Al Shira’aa Racing Meadow Court Stakes, but not with the horse the market expected, as Moody (15/2) made all to a three-and-a-half-length victory under Billy Lee, while stablemate One Look (5/6f) finished sixth after reportedly finding the ground too firm.
Previously trained by Andre Fabre for Godolphin, the €125,000 Arqana purchase won listed races over a mile and a half, and a mile and six furlongs on her first two starts for owner Mel Sutcliffe but showed plenty of pace on this drop down to 10 furlongs.Lee set the pace in the Group 3 and quickened approaching the turn for home. Their advantage never diminished, as the Night Of Thunder filly kept on strongly while William Haggas’ raider Rhapsody (10/1) took runner-up honours from the longtime second Nyra.
“She’s won her listed race, her listed race with a penalty and now her Group 3,” Twomey commented. “She’s versatile, I’d say that’s a good trip for her and she’s not short of speed.
“She’s in the Jean Romanet, she’s in the Yorkshire Oaks, she’s in the Vermeille, she’s in everything.”
Regarding plans for One Look, he said: “We’ll freshen her up and she’ll be tried in similar races – the Jean Romanet, maybe the E.P. Taylor, something like that.”
Well-related Porto Vecchio emerges as a smart prospect
DERMOT Weld’s newcomer Porto Vecchio shaped like a colt with a bright future when travelling well throughout the Juddmonte ‘Lead Artist’ Irish EBF (C & G) Maiden and going on to win at odds of 9/1.
Chris Hayes partnered the full-brother to Homeless Songs to a half-length win over Ballydoyle newcomer Victory Speech (8/1). The seven-furlong maiden has been won by the likes of Henry Longfellow, Mac Swiney and The Lion In Winter in recent years and Weld has a Group 1 in mind for Moyglare Stud’s homebred son of Frankel.
“He hasn’t been on grass this year yet, which is surprising for one of mine. This was his first time, so I thought he just might find it all a little bit strange and be a little bit immature. He did it all very professionally.
“I’d hope that we could build him into a horse that could run in the National Stakes, that’d be the plan for him.”
Winning attitude
Blacktype will be the eventual aim for Rebel Wave (4/1), after the three-year-old got off the mark in the Hailey Equine Irish EBF Fillies Maiden. Beaten a head on soft ground at Limerick last time, the €280,000 yearling demonstrated her versatility on Saturday’s ground and displayed a game attitude when denying well-backed newcomer Stooked (11/4) by that same margin on her fourth start.
On the Valmont and Ballylinch Stud-owned winner, Willie McCreery said: “I’m delighted with that. She’s a hardy filly and she tries; she’s going the right way.
“We’ll keep her in a fillies’ handicap or look around for a bit of blacktype. We won’t run her too often because she’s not an over-big filly.”
Likeable
Ger Lyons and Colin Keane placed in both maidens and got on the scoresheet when Genchev (100/30) came out on top in the Hill Of Allen Stud Handicap for owners David Spratt, Sean Jones and Mrs Lynne Lyons.
The Without Parole gelding led from an early stage in the 10-furlong contest and was asked to quicken approaching the two-furlong pole.
The 86-rated bay dug deep to deny Yousaynothingatall by a short head, with the pair rallying three and a half lengths clear of the third.
“He’s a horse that you can set alight from the stalls and then he shuts down and stays and he’s always only doing enough, hence the cheekpieces,” Keane explained.
“He’s turning into a likeable sort of horse.”