BILLY Lee and Colin Keane continue to set a hectic pace at the head of the flat jockeys’ championship and both were on the mark with the former partnering the well-regarded newcomer Impact Warrior in the featured Irish EBF Auction Series Race.
Paddy Twomey is having a real breakthrough season with a first Group 1 victory and nearly a million euro in prize money. The Athassel House trainer is now on the 27-winner mark for the campaign, at an amazing strike rate of 34%, after Impact Warrior got the better of Goa Gajah by half-a-length, the pair stretching six lengths clear of the remainder.
“It was a fair effort on her first run, getting just 1lb from an 88-rated colt who was a previous winner. I think she is a nice filly,” said Twomey of the 5/4 favourite. “I said to (owner) Martin Schwartz that I don’t really train first time out two-year-old winners but I thought if I was going to have one it might be her.
“She is in the Goffs Million and that is a logical target for her, depending on how she comes out of this. I have her in the Fillies Mile and the Marcel Boussac. She is straightforward and tough.”
No stopping Moe
Reigning champion Keane remains three ahead (69-66) of his rival after Moe Sedway (11/10 favourite) gained a very convincing success in the Eurona Brisknet Maiden.
The Noel Meade owned and trained Gutaifan gelding put a succession of placed efforts behind him by stretching right away inside the final furlong for a six-length verdict over Relevant Range.
Meade said: “I went too far with him the time before last and Colin said he thinks seven to a mile suits him. He said he’d probably be better in a good race where he’d get a lead. He likes a little ease in the ground but doesn’t want soft ground.
“If he doesn’t get sold, he’ll run along. He might go to America or somewhere like that and is a horse that will win plenty of races. Moe Sedway was the fella that killed Bugsy Siegel, the gangster who built Las Vegas.”
FELLOW Meath trainer Gavin Cromwell had a number of good chances on the card and duly recorded a 19/1 double via Supposedtobe and Earls.
Supposedtobe, claimed at Gowran Park back in May, gave connections a return on their investment when taking the Coast To Curragh Cycle Claiming Race. Seamie Heffernan sent the well-backed 4/1 (from 6s) chance to the front inside the final quarter mile and he kept on well for a length-and-three-quarters verdict over 5/2 favourite Bringbackmemories with Elusive Gigolo in third.
Cromwell said: “We had him in at a modest claim and rode him good and positive. He’s probably got first run on the others and it’s nice to win a race with him.
“He was claimed for six grand and is getting that in prize money. Feidhlim Cunningham is part of the (Eightsnotfours) syndicate and they have always had a horse with me.”
The winner was later claimed for €6,000 by the Premier Racing Club to be trained by Denis Hogan.
Also claimed were Bringbackmemories for €20,000 by John McConnell, Elusive Gigolo (€5,000) by James McAuley and eighth-placed Prince Of Verona for €10,000, to be trained by Noel Meade.
Calm Earls
The Martin Sheridan-owned Earls, 7/1 earlier in the day and sent off 3/1 co-favourite of three, quickened up nicely between horses in the final furlong for Gary Carroll to beat the front-running Verhoyen by a length-and-a-half in the Londis Roscommon Handicap.
“We left the blinkers off him and that was the difference as he was racing too keenly. Garvan Donnelly, my head lad now, trained him before and the horse always wore blinkers, so I weighed in with that,” said Cromwell.
“They went very hard and it opened up nicely for him. Gary said he wouldn’t mind trying him over a mile.”
Betterdaysrcoming arrives in style CONOR Hoban proved an able deputy for Shane Foley, who was away on duty in France, as Spirit Genie scored at odds of 9/1 in the Irish Stallion Farms EBF Maiden.
The Jessica Harrington-trained son of Invincible Spirit got a lovely run up the inner to lead at the furlong pole and kept on well to beat Betterdaysrcoming by three-quarters-of-a-length.
“He’d a tongue-tie on today which helped and he liked the ground and liked going seven. He relaxed well into the race and it panned out perfect,” said Hoban, before adding: “Mick Donohue (racing manager to owner Zhang Yuesheng) has been very good to me at home in my own yard and when the opportunities arise on the track it’s nice to repay him with a winner.”
The 85-rated Comfort Zone looked the one they all had to beat in the Murray Ambulance Apprentice Maiden but the son of Churchill made heavy weather of landing cramped odds.
Trained by Joseph O’Brien for J.P. McManus, the 1/3 shot needed a strong drive by Mikey Sheehy to touch off Monarchs Brae by a head.
Sheehy said: “We didn’t go overly mad and maybe I should have made the running on him. He travelled well into the straight but just took a bit of time to get rolling. He really dug deep for me in the last 100 (yards).”
Firstman, an easy-to-back 14/1 chance in the Sean Cleary Memorial Handicap, also left it late when threading his way through in the straight and getting up close home under Ben Coen to beat Magnetic North by half-a-length.
“He’s owned by three great lads (Keep Your Distance Syndicate) and fortunately things went right for him today. Ben is top class and he carried out what he was supposed to do to perfection,” said trainer Tony Martin.
“He won in Dundalk last year and we claimed him back as I felt there would be days in him and he jumps as well. He’ll probably run back on the flat in three or four weeks and then go back over hurdles.”