Breeder delight

AIDAN Fitzgerald and his wife Ashling Daly, trainer and owner of the four-year-old mares’ maiden winner Sister Saragh, were represented by the bay’s breeder, James Dunne, who reported her dam, the French-bred Didinas (by Kaldou Star) to be due to foal to Shantou.

“This mare is her second foal,” reported Dunne. “Her first is the Willie Mullins-trained Bordini who won two bumpers but was pulled up at Cheltenham. He is in the Champion Bumper at Punchestown. I still have the dam’s two-year-old gelding by Beneficial and her yearling filly by Beat Hollow.”

Rain proves

a dampener

A POOR weather forecast had a detrimental effect on the crowd numbers at Largy on Friday but those who attended enjoyed this twilight meeting mainly in the dry with the heavy rain holding off until well after racing had concluded.

While there was good reason for some to celebrate in the bar after racing, others made a quick exit. A small number of ticket holders made their way to Ravenhill for the Ulster v Leinster Pro 12 match while others hurried home, or elsewhere, to watch the rugby on TV. Kindly, the result was only mentioned to this writer a few times on Saturday.