FOR the first time in his career, Joey Dunne was celebrating a hat-trick, which he secured by teaming up with handlers that he had never previously ridden a winner for.

That included the in-form Blackhall Stables team of Paul and Andy Pierce, who fielded two of the Dunboyne native’s winners on the card, including Colegram (5/4 joint-favourite) in the five-year-old and upwards mares’ maiden.

Despite taking on three younger rivals, the six-year-old brought the previous placed form into the racing after finishing third at Cragmore in January. That followed a lengthy absence, and the Buck’s Boum mare took the expected step forward as she controlled a particularly steady pace to defeat Jet To Glory by two and a half lengths.

“She needed the run that last day; she wasn’t fit,” Andy Pierce reported of the Blackhall Stables Partnership-owned French-bred. “We only ran her in Cragmore because it was a six-year-old race and there wasn’t one coming up for a while. She got a cut in it and then missed another load of time. She will go for a winners’ race next.”

Looking ahead

The mares’ winners’ of one contest on the card has proven to be an informative pointer towards the mares’ hunter chase in Cork in recent years. The 2024 and 2025 winners, Eyes Off Annie and Justlikejessejames, had fought out the finish in Mallow last year, and that Easter Monday contest was earmarked as the next possible target for the Pierce’s Sworn Duty (4/5 favourite) following her workmanlike three-and-a-half-length victory over Knockanard maiden winner Lucky Valley.

The Pierce brothers have saddled eight horses in 2026, and all but one have made the placings. That one exception was Purple And Gold, who crashed out of the five-year-old geldings’ maiden at the penultimate fence whilst holding a share of the lead. His departure left Mossey Fen King (2/1 – 3/1) with a clear passage to victory, with Joey Dunne guiding the Mossey Fen Partnership-owned €52,000 Derby Sale recruit to success.

His comfortable four-length defeat of Common People maintained a 50% strike rate for the season for absent Wexford handler Eamonn Doyle.

“That’s my first winner for Eamonn,” Dunne stated. “I’ve only had one ride for him before today. I’d say he is sick of me annoying him texting for rides.

“Eamonn loves this horse, he said it is one of the best horses that he has. He has run him at different tracks up to now, and it just hadn’t worked out.

“He sent him here today and said to keep him happy. I rode him a bit wider than I probably wanted to, but he was winging fences, and I was happy everywhere.”

GARY Murphy extended his successful run of late with a pair of four-year-old winners, beginning with Sadhbh’s A Singer (6/4 favourite), who stepped forward from her Lisronagh debut three weeks earlier to land the four-year-old mares’ maiden under Shane O’Rourke. The daughter of Affinisea put the experience from her runner-up effort to good use, as under positive tactics, the Turbine Syndicate-owned mare defeated eye-catching newcomer Dateforyourdiary by two and a half lengths.

“Fergus Whelan owns her, and his daughter is called Sadhbh, and she is a good singer. So, we called her Sadhbh’s A Singer,” Murphy explained, having saddled the winner of this race for a second consecutive year. “I’d say she bumped into two good fillies last time, so we were expecting her to do that today.”

Sire of note

Murphy has enjoyed a particularly fruitful partnership with Shane O’Rourke this season, which has seen the Foulksmills rider have one of his most fruitful spells in the saddle. Five of his last seven mounts have all been winners, the latest of which was the Turbine Syndicate-owned Living In Luxury (2/1 – 3/1) in the four-year-old geldings’ maiden.

Late The Beeches Stud stallion Mahler was responsible for two winners on the card, and Living In Luxury was the first of them when supplying the former St Leger runner-up with consecutive victories in this contest. He showed a game attitude to defeat well-backed favourite Slade Honour by a length, supplying Murphy with his seventh success of the campaign in the process.

“The horses were all sick over Christmas,” he explained of his change in fortunes. “I didn’t have a runner for eight or nine weeks, but they have come back into good health now.

“He was probably the last of my horses to get sick, and the last to come back, so coming here, I said to Francis Whelan that he would probably take the run. I was thinking more towards his second run in three weeks’ time.”

TOM DREAPER capped off a successful weekend by saddling Rock On Richie (evens - 4/5 favourite) to run out a dominant winner of the older geldings’ maiden. A €38,000 purchase from the 2023 Goffs Arkle sale, the Mahler gelding has progressed with each outing, and that continued here, as he went one place better than his Oldtown second a month earlier.

Sent on by Jack Hendrick on the climb into the home straight, his advantage grew further with each stride as the Knockalough Syndicate-owned six-year-old ultimately won by 28 lengths.

“He is a lovely horse, he just got held up in the spring of his five-year-old year,” Dreaper acknowledged, having also saddled a winner in Kirkistown 24 hours earlier. “On his last two runs, he warranted that. It’s been a great weekend; I’m delighted with it.”

Slade Harbour (P. M. Power): the Mahler gelding was clearly expected to put up a bold showing on his debut, and the well-backed favourite looked to be holding leading claims when travelling strongly into the straight, only to find one rival too strong.