“THE dead arose and appeared to many” was certainly the case at Annaghmore Raceway last weekend with a bumper entry of horses and a much larger crowd than at recent meetings.
The Irish American Weekend and strong added money was the lure. The weekend belonged to ‘The Cooley Magician’, Martin Loughran, who won four races over the two-day fixture.
Martin collected on Saturday with Karla Style and I Want You Back, while on Sunday he had a double with Kirio Scott and I Want You Back who won on consecutive days.
The achievement was Loughran’s best weekend since his ‘nearly a Frankie’ of five wins on one day at Dundalk Stadium in 2016. The winners were well supported, much to the chagrin of the bookies.
James Griffin, commentator, is as well travelled as they come. James had trouble disguising the bemusement in his voice as he called ‘big meeting means winners from the Loughran yard’.
For the record, Karla Style followed up his innocuous third behind Harry Knows and Hope De Guinnette by taking out the B to C Grade Trot. The market could not separate the Omeath runner from Extrem Ryld (Adam Corey) and they finished ‘as they bet’.
The mare I Want You Back won off the gate on the Saturday and from the ‘8 hole’ on the Sunday. She is only seven and looks quite a find.
Martin told The Irish Field: “I Want You Back took a while to get over the switch from France to Ireland but we gave her a great winter break and it seems to have worked. This was my third year in a row winning the Irish American Trot Final. Kirio Scott got owner Ger Cooke back amongst the winners.”
Patrick Kane jnr also had a successful weekend steering his own four-timer. The Groomsman was making novicey mistakes in previous runs. However, when you have the champion driver, a farrier and an equine dentist on your team, these problems tend to get sorted out and the son of Stag Party scored in the meeting’s opener. Evens to 1/2 was the business.
Good effect
Patrick was seen to good effect when he drove Buster Gilligan’s Coalford Billy Bats for the five-year-old’s second lifetime win. Patrick went for top (the lead) but One Cool Touch (John Boy Roche) has gate speed and the apprentice driver attempted to make all. Patrick tucked in and picked off the Cloghran runner in the final quarter.
“He’s only showing us what we always thought he could do. We spent a lot of time on Bettystown beach this winter and a couple of visits to Ronnie Ross (equine chiropractor) helped him,” said a delighted Buster. Now go home and get your shine box!
Procession
The Kane yard at Summerhill is home to the best trotter and quite possibly the best pacer in Ireland at the moment. For the third week in a row Harry Knows made a procession of the top-grade trot, despite the attentions of Helios De Lara (Sean Kane for Aidan Caffrey) and eventual second Graal Du Dollar (Jamie Hurley).
Ayroplane just keeps improving. He will probably be kept in three-year-old company but would certainly beat most of the aged horses around. The son of Stay Hungry added the Irish American three-year-old pace to his CV with a seven-length win in 2.01.1
Part owners John and William Ball made the trip from Brentford, London to see their investment. The long-term plan will be to ship to the US, where Rhyds Superfly has racked up eight consecutive wins for the same connections.
John Ball told The Irish Field: “Ayroplane is an amazing animal. The Kanes are doing a fantastic job with him. The next stop will be the York meeting in aid of children’s cancer.”
Both Harry Knows and Ayroplane were 1/5 on the straight, although there was more business on the winning distance markets.
Elsewhere on the card, the likeable Immodesto won the Grade E to F trot driven by Kenmare-born farrier Oisin Quill.
“Grandad has trained him well,” was the witty remark from Oisin. Oisin’s father Finbarr was recently promoted to the rank of grandfather with the arrival of baby Rosie. Mother Charlie is obviously on a break from the sulky.
Rathcoole-based Wayne McNevin has invested time and money into his passion, harness racing. Wayne opened a double as Born In Isolation (2/1 to 4/6 favourite) proved best in a trappy looking four-year-old division.
Fine wine
Benny Camden (1/2) is a like a fine wine and won Sunday’s Free For All beating no less than For A Few Pearls More and Cash All in the process.
“He’s getting to be a pensioner now. He’s really for my daughter Leah to drive. She won this race last year but a new rule states that a C class driver is not eligible. The win sets Benny up for the Liam Wallace Future Generation Young Drivers Race.”
The sire Stay Hungry is firing out winners in America at the moment. Not only is Ayroplane by Stay Hungry but so too is the winner of the three-year-old fillies, Always Hungry.
The filly upset the more experienced Little Sweet (Billy Roche). Always Hungry is the first runner under IHRA rules owned by Clondalkin man Dean Craig.
Swooped
Trainer Alan Wallace junior was away so Gavin Murdock came in for the catch drive. Gavin sat out the back and then swooped. The drive was reminiscent of his late father Harry ‘the head waiter’ in his day.
Jonny Cowden rarely leaves Annaghmore without a winner. Neville Martin’s Sweet Dreams provided the North Belfast man’s sole victory of the two days. The Ederney mare beat the well-regarded Always B Puffing (Billy Roche). Sweet Dreams to beat Puffing was favourite on the forecast market in this four-year-old mares’ event.
Larry Camden, now seven, looks to have improved over the winter. The son of Yankee Lariat was backed as if defeat was out of the question and duly won Saturday’s A to C pace in a scorching 1.58.8 for driver Troy Mc Aleer from St Margarets.
Troy’s cousin Eoin Joyce had a similar front-running victory with Pan Cam Dynasty in Saturday’s closer a Grade E to F affair. Mark McKay’s son of Foreclosure was well supported and clocked 1.59.7
Eoin modestly stated: “All the credit goes to Hopper Foran who did a lot of work with this horse through the winter at Bettystown beach.”
Reports were that the layers lost Saturday, won Sunday.
Volunteers
Full credit goes to Ivan Swindle and Darren Timlin who worked a “Challenge Anneka” type performance tidying the grounds and erecting a kids’ playground in a week. Wayne McNevin raised funds for the children’s area. Various other volunteers manage the day-to-day existence of the track.
The programme acknowledged the American stallion owners who made the weekend possible with subsidised covering fees for Tattoo Artist and Perfect Sting. The IHRA ‘Invest in Ourselves’ series sponsored the meeting.
Racing continues today at Lyre, near Clonakilty and tomorrow at Annaghmore. Results, racecards etc can be accessed at irishharnessracing.com. Replays of races can be seen on IHRA YouTube channel.