AHEAD of a pivotal stage of the flat season, Jessica Harrington and Shane Foley have once again signalled that they will be one of the foremost combinations in the country over the course of the 2021 season and further evidence of this was supplied by a double at this fixture.
Foley, who will surely challenge strongly for title honours again, was seen at his best on both occasions and he kicked off the double aboard a back-to-form Still Standing in a well-contested 11-furlong handicap.
The Three D Partnership-owned six-year-old started out his career in great style by winning five of his first eight starts which culminated in a listed success at Naas over two years ago.
Strong market support
Things have been much leaner since then but a recent outing at Cork suggested he was coming back to form and strong market support, which saw him returned the 5/2 favourite, offered further evidence that a strong showing was expected this time.
Still Standing came between horses to make his bid nearing the last furlong and in a cracking finale he showed an admirable attitude to edge out Ebony Maw by a head.
“He was a good horse in his day when he was a genuine listed horse. He had a few problems here and there though. It’s nice to get his head back in front and the Durkans (owners) are good men too,” declared Foley.
The rider then struck on the Zhang Yuesheng-owned Soaring Sky (10/1) in the three-year-old handicap over the same trip.
This daughter of Free Eagle looked to have it all to do from second last as a sedately run affair began to unfold in the straight. Soaring Sky still had all bar one of her rivals to pass with over a furlong to run but she then came with a tremendous charge on the outer to lead late on and defeat Macadam’s Rock by half a length.
The manner of this victory would suggest that this filly will surely be adding to her tally this term.
IT was an excellent day for Andy Slattery senior and junior who joined forces for a double and they struck first with Dedillon who was making it two wins from as many starts this season in the mile handicap.
The five-year-old went 19 starts without a win prior to landing a Dundalk maiden in late March and the 8/1 chance progressed again here. She made most of the running and stuck to her task gamely to defeat Business Speak by three-parts of a length. Dedillon is owned by locally-based Sean Rushe.
The Slatterys then struck with Solene Lilyette who was making her debut for the yard in the older horses maiden over a mile.
The former Dermot Weld inmate showed promise on a number of occasions last season and was picked up for €12,000 at the online Goffs February Sale. The granddaughter of the Matriarch Stakes heroine Dress To Thrill was allowed to go off at 25/1 but belied those odds with a game pace-setting effort.
Over the course of the straight she contained the persistent effort of Fictitious Lady and the line arrived in time for her to hold the staying-on Mudawy by half a length.
“The way she was working at home we thought she was a premier handicap filly on soft ground and Andrew said she blew up there, so she should improve,” remarked Slattery senior who trains the daughter of Pivotal for Eimear O’Brien.
Gamble landed
The return of flat racing to Limerick concluded with quite a gamble in the second division of the 45-65 rated handicap over 11 furlongs as Ellaat was backed from as big as 50/1 in the morning into 5/2.
Noel Kelly’s charge looked set for victory when he took over in front heading into the last furlong but in the dying yards he was nailed by Rodney Bay who is trained by Joe Murray for his wife Lisa Sheridan.
Joe Doyle was on board this lightly raced four-year-old who was making just the sixth appearance of his career and he coped well with an 11lbs hike for his second to Sense Of Worth at Dundalk.
THE card kicked off with a couple of interesting maidens and the first of these went to Paddy Twomey and Billy Lee (picked up a one-day whip ban) as the Trevor Stewart-owned Corps Des Pages built on a debut third to O’Reilly at Leopardstown.
That first run came over a mile and the son of Frankel was dropping back in trip by a furlong for the Irish Stallion Farms EBF (C&G) Maiden, but he coped with this distance to move ahead of the front-running Lunar Space a furlong from home. The latter rallied very well once headed but at the line the 6/4 favourite was still a short head in front.
“This trip is probably his minimum but he’s built on a good first run and he will progress further from here. He enjoyed the ground,” commented the trainer.
Half an hour later the Ger Lyons-trained Flagged (9/4) progressed from a debut sixth behind Empress Josephine to take the Irish Stallion Farms EBF Fillies Maiden over a mile.
The Juddmonte-owned daughter of Starspangledbanner was brave from the front and found plenty under pressure to contain Friendly by three-parts of a length.
“We were worried about the quick ground this morning but they have done a good job on it,” remarked the trainer’s brother Shane. “She’s a filly we like and she was still green there so she should progress loads.”
Elsewhere, Bigz Belief (11/4), who won on dire ground at Navan in March, showed that he could cope with vastly quicker conditions in the first divide of the 45-65 rated 11-furlong handicap. Matthew Smith’s charge crept into this race as a reserve and made the most of this opportunity.
The Debbie Kelly-owned gelding was sent to the front by Dylan Browne McMonagle with well over a furlong to run and was always holding Trump Card.