FAIR play to Ross Coakley, not just for bouncing back from his horror fall at Ballinrobe just a month ago, but for giving Elusive Time the ride that he gave him to win the Tote Irish Cambridgeshire at the Curragh on Sunday.

Elusive Time may have been the best horse in the race on the day at the weights anyway, but he may not have been, and the ride that Coakley gave him maximised his chance of winning. Drawn 27 of 27, Coakley bided his time on Takashi Kodama’s horse, took him towards the near side, onto what was probably the best of the ground, and asked him for his effort.