NURBURGRING remained the unchanged 4/1 favourite for the 2025 Tote Galway Plate when warming up for his Ballybrit return with a comfortable enough first win over fences - now on course to become the first horse to complete the Galway Hurdle-Plate double since Ansar more than 20 years ago.
With the exception of a scare two fences from home, it was largely plain sailing for Bronsan Racing’s ultra-versatile campaigner, as 8/13 favourite, in the two-mile-one-furlong Lee Strand Novice Chase.
Main market rival Special Cadeau briefly looked like giving him something to think about but the Joseph O’Brien-trained five-year-old was never asked a serious question by J.J. Slevin in running out a four-and-a-half-length winner.
“The trip was probably short of his best but we were hoping he’d do something like that. The race cut up a bit but he has done it well,” said Slevin.
“We wanted to sharpen him up before Galway so there weren’t many other places to go with him. He isn’t a natural front-runner and it turned into a dash. He’ll go for the Plate now.”
Donegal omen
A rival for the most convincing winners of the day came in the Killarney Grand Mares Maiden Hurdle over two miles and seven furlongs when Neon Diamond sharpened up nicely for the application of first-time cheekpieces.
A bumper winner at Limerick on heavy ground in April 2024, she made full use of her hurdling experience to win by nine lengths under Jack Kennedy.
Winning trainer Gordon Elliott said: “She had a couple of good runs but has been disappointing. It worked out today and it’s great for Liam Clancy, her owner, who owns the Abbey Hotel and sponsors Donegal football. They have a big week ahead next week.”
Family success
On the other side of the All-Ireland Senior Football Final divide, Kerry native Cian Collins also got on the scoresheet when Greatness Awaits (12/1) followed up a recent Cartmel success in the €20,000 Lee Strand Handicap Hurdle.
In holding off a late rally from 7/4 favourite Winning Smut, the now seven-time winner was bringing up an important family success for winning rider Jordan Gainford.
Collins said: “Jordan gave him a great ride and his parents own him [in the Feathery Step Syndicate], so this is great. This is their first horse. He’s been a good buy since we got him privately and it was a good pot to win. We changed things up with him, stepped him up in distance and changed the way we ride him; he seems to be enjoying it.”
TALK about a rapid return on investment. It was a bold shout from Philip Rothwell to part-buy Dreal Deal privately after tailing off in a Sligo claimer just 38 days ago but he proved an inspired purchase when finding a new lease of life to land the €45,000 BoyleSports Daily Money Back Meeting Handicap Chase.
Simon Torrens knows the former Grade 2 winner well from his previous spell with John McConnell and got a sweet tune out of the 10-year-old to record the 28/1 shot’s first win since May 2024.
Only a nose separated the one-time Ronan McNally-trained performer and last year’s winner of the Ladies Day feature, Gaelic Arc, trained by John Ryan.
Rothwell, who now owns Dreal Deal in conjunction with his previous owners Mark Devlin, Nigel O’Hare and Philip Smith, said: “That’s a massive surprise on my first run with him. I saw he was in a claimer in Sligo last month for €15,000 and I bought into him myself privately after the race. I knew some of the lads involved and they asked me would I like to buy a share in him and to train him.
“We’ve changed things around, he’s living in a paddock on his own and we’ve done a lot of different little things with him. I was hoping for a confidence-building run so it was far from expected, but I think we can build on it.”
Warning keeps winning
John Ryan didn’t have to wait long for compensation when the in-form Smallcraftwarning continued a fruitful summer for the We Win Farming Syndicate in the second division of the Europe Hotel And Resort Handicap Chase.
A winner three starts ago at Clonmel, Daniel King’s mount has been kept busy and is thriving. He proved four lengths too good for Jeu De Pic as 100/30 favourite.
“This horse is what he is but he did a job today,” said Ryan.
“There is every kind of a breed involved in this syndicate - there are accountants, farmers and every kind, and they’re all young. They are a real breath of fresh air around my place. Aidan O’Sullivan and Jack Broderick are two right good guys who head the syndicate.”
Likeable Lemon
John Murphy and his team love to target all meetings at Killarney and their third winner of the track’s July Festival came in the concluding Christy Lucey Transport Mares Bumper when Lemon Zest took a nice step forward from her Tipperary debut fourth to win under Harry Swan.
Easy to back at 7/2 (from a morning price of 6/4), the Churchill filly faced a strong challenge at the death from the more experienced Fraher Field. To her credit, she managed to pull out plenty to score by a length and a half.
SOMETHING Noble’s pedigree might suggest he should be contesting high-class international sprints, but he looks to have found his calling as a hurdler judged on a first-time-out success over flights in the Killarney Park Hotel 3-Y-O Maiden Hurdle.
Niall and Cathal Slevin’s imposing Teofilo gelding is a half-brother to listed-winning Japanese sprinter Sonshi and Meydan Carnival speedball Tawalla, yet he stayed on best of all here to spring a 50/1 upset for trainer Ciaran Murphy and jockey Eoin Walsh.
“That wasn’t really a surprise as we think hurdling is his future, but obviously we were taking on some horses who had already run over hurdles,” said Murphy.
“We were thrilled with him at home and if he had run a nice race today, we’d have been happy. To win is great. I’m very impressed with Eoin today - he gave him a super ride.
“This horse was bought with this job in mind - he was well bought by David Wachman as a yearling - and has loads of scope. He’ll do the flat job too. My horses are in great form, I’m thrilled with them. They’re coming right at the right time.”
Tappin on top
Darragh O’Keeffe was out of luck when challenging for a gap in the opening maiden hurdle on third-placed Urgent Whisper but there is no keeping the jockeys’ championship leader down at the moment and he continued his sparkling run of form when guiding Tippin And Tappin (5/2 favourite) to victory in the first division of the Europe Hotel And Resort Handicap Chase.
The Enda Bolger-trained six-year-old got his confidence up with a win between the flags in May, before following up with a handicap chase victory at Limerick later in the month, and was able to defy a 5lb higher mark here for the Storytellers Syndicate.
Speaking after the three-quarter-length win over a plucky Zolpharine, Bolger said: “He’s a big horse for around here but this is a course some jockeys are very good around, and Darragh excels here.
“A friend of mine, Paul Leonard, had this horse in his early days. Luke McMahon, his son Aubrey and their friends are involved in him now. Aubrey previously rode out for me and rode Josies Orders in point-to-points.”