BACK To Me brought up plenty of bets with a last-gasp success in the Celebrate Your Special Occasion At Dundalk Stadium Median Auction Maiden over six furlongs. From as big as 50/1 in the morning, the Magna Grecia colt was backed down to 14/1 for his second start.
He was fifth on the approach to the final furlong, but rattled home in the hands of Nicola Burns to nail My Cubby Bear by a short head close home for trainer Adrian Murray and owner Anderson Correa De Oliveira.
Burns said: “He’s a lovely-moving horse and I knew he would move well on it (Polytrack). I got checked back a bit and he came home strong.”
Favourite-backers rewarded
Denis Hogan’s Sporting Hero (10/3 joint-favourite) landed the Christmas Party Nights At Dundalk Stadium Claiming Race for the second year in succession - this time in the hands of Alan Casey.
The jockey asked him for more passing the two-furlong pole and made headway into second racing to the final furlong. Coming through to lead with 150 yards to race, he held off a late challenge by stablemate Dontspoilasale to win by a head for the Winning Chance Syndicate.
“He picked up very well and loves this track,” Casey said. “I’m down to 7lb now and it is great. Denis has been very good to me to give me the rides.”
Hogan ran four horses in this race and was rewarded with a 1-2-4-5.
Sporting Hero was claimed by Premier Racing to be trained by Hogan, while third-placed Gordon Bennett was claimed by G.F. O’Neill to be trained by Peter Fahey, and fifth-placed Winemaker was claimed by H.D. McGuigan.
Follow the money
Shane Foley rode a confident race aboard 11/10 favourite Instant Appeal in the Irishinjuredjockeys.com Handicap.
He held his mount up towards the rear in the descending fog and they moved closer entering the straight. Foley guided him through to lead 100 yards down and hit the line with three quarters of a length in hand for Shamrock Thoroughbreds.
Stephen Thorne said: “We were keen to just ride him with plenty of confidence today and Shane obviously knows the horse well.
“Now that he is probably out of the 80 bracket, there’s probably only a handful of races for him. The 0-90s and 0-100s are sparing, but I don’t like running them too often anyway. He’ll have one run before Christmas.”
NEW headgear worked the oracle for Beautiful Affair in the Student Race Day At Dundalk Stadium Maiden over seven furlongs.
Julian Pietropaolo settled her in mid-division and the pair loomed large outside the final furlong. Soon in front, she went on to win by a length and a half at 15/8 for Joseph O’Brien and owners Thoroughbred Racing Syndicate/Bronsan Racing.
“The blinkers really sparked something in her today,” Pietropaolo reported. “I was always confident there, she travelled away down to the furlong pole and she put the race to bed.”
Greater enthusiasm
It was a similar story for Enthusiastically (10/1), who made the breakthrough in the Book Online At DundalkStadium.com Nursery Handicap over seven furlongs. Donnacha O’Brien’s filly sported a first-time hood and blinkers, and soon picked up the lead for Chris Hayes. She saw all 13 rivals off from the front to post a victory by half a length in the colours of Miss Sarah O’Brien.
Hayes said: “I got going sooner than ideal, but Gary (Carroll on Wicklow Gap) was putting a bit of pressure on me and I said she is either going to stay with this (light) weight or she’s not.
“When she fills into her frame, I can’t see why she won’t improve.”
NIKKI Swango is in fine fettle at present and followed up on last week’s decisive success in Dundalk with another ready win in the Bet On The Best Night Out At Dundalk Stadium Handicap.
The well-backed 11/8 favourite powered home with over a furlong to go and asserted in the closing stages to win by three and three quarter lengths for owners Claire Wylie, Mark McGuckin and Mark Devlin.
Ado McGuinness said: “That’s the key to those types of horses, they stay in the same grade and they have a chance.
“That’s the third run now in the space of less than two weeks, so we might bring her back here this side of Christmas for a pot.”
Back-to-back
Blackjack Hills (9/2) followed up a heavy-ground win in Gowran Park with a win on his first visit to the Polytrack in Division I of the Now Racing Every Wednesday At Dundalk Handicap over an extended 10 furlongs.
Ben Coen had him fifth at the halfway stage and grabbed the lead inside the final furlong, keeping on well to see it out by three-parts of a length for trainer Matthew Smith and owner Debbie Kelly.
Coen commented: “For a big horse, he moved beautifully on that surface. The step up in trip suited.”
Perfect ending
Brandon Creek rewarded Ger O’Leary’s faith in Division II of the Now Racing Every Wednesday At Dundalk Handicap. The 9/1 chance tracked the leaders under Jack Cleary and progressed to lead in the final furlong, before holding Limestone Red by three-quarters of a length.
“This is the last run of the year for the Purosangue Racing Syndicate,” O’Leary explained. “The syndicate expired on October 31st and we just had this entry done.
“I think the surface made a big difference. In Galway, he got galloped into and it set him back. He got a bad cut behind.”