BRITISH trainer Jamie Osborne won half of the six races at the beach meeting in Laytown, Co Meath, on Thursday evening.

Backed by the Melbourne 10, a group of racehorse owners who specialise in targeting overseas races, Osborne sent a team of seven horses to this year's Laytown fixture, which has been staged once a year for 150 years. Together Osborne and the Melbourne 10 had one winner at the meeting in each of the past two seasons.

However, this year's Osborne team proved too strong for the locals in three races. Osborne's first two winners - Florencio (11/10) and Waqaas (5/4) - were both well-backed and both ridden by local amateur Lisa O'Neill.

Running off a mark of 75 – a stone lower than his all-weather rating of 89 – Florencio eased to a one-and-three-quarter-length success.

Osborne said: “I was surprised he was odds-on in a handicap, but we bought him because of his split mark and it worked. The beach is very different to the English all-weather, so there’s always a doubt, but that has taken the heat off.”

Osborne and O’Neill swiftly doubled up after the highly-rated Waqaas obliged in the Hibernia Steel (Q.R.) Race.

O’Neill said: “The lads are here to enjoy themselves, so it’s great for them. They were very good to give me the rides.”

And the trainer completed his hat-trick as Monumental Man – bought out of Michael Attwater’s yard after winning a seller at Lingfield last week – struck at 10/1 under champion jockey Colin Keane in the Bohan Hyland & Associates Handicap.

“We’ll be back next year, the boys love it. It’s an annual event for us and there’s going to be no shying away,” Osborne added.

The Melbourne 10-owned pair of Prosecution and Rippling Waters were out of luck in the opening Gilna’s Cottage Inn Maiden as 4/1 shot Bay Of Skaill struck gold for trainer Joe Murphy and jockey Gary Carroll.

“She’ll be back here next year, we’ll find something for her and maybe the Melbourne 10 might want to buy her!” joked Joe Murphy junior.

Cyrus Dallin justified 9/4 favouritism in the Scotch Hall Shopping Centre Claiming Race, trained and ridden by Denis Hogan.

Osborne’s Pulsating was second, with his other runner Kody Ridge withdrawn after getting loose before the start.

The Melbourne 10 were represented by 10 horses overall, after also leasing the Johnny Murtagh-trained Prosecution and Tom McCourt’s course winner My Good Brother for the day, with the latter just touched off in the last race, which was won by Sarah Lynam's Tyrconnell.

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