A DUAL group winner in Germany, Oriental Eagle produced his best performance since joining the Emmet Mullins string when garnering the Listed Martin Molony Stakes thanks to a brilliant bit of steering by Blackmore.

Just three days after misfiring at Leopardstown the five-year-old sat in second behind pacesetter Bold Approach.

Blackmore edged her mount forward to take over turning into the straight but a previously-seen tendency to hang left made her task difficult.

The Killenaule pilot showed all her horsemanship to keep Oriental Eagle on the largely straight and narrow and he flew clear, with Pondus closing late to within a length, having not had a clear passage.

“It’s great to get an opportunity like this and fair play to Emmet” said Blackmore. “He had this horse very well tuned up for today.

“The plan was to sit last and completely switch him off but he jumped very well and we got a lovely lead going around and apart from hanging up the straight, he did it well.

“It’s just fantastic to get an opportunity like this and a big thanks to Emmet for putting me up today.”

Blackmore will be back in her natural environment when the National Hunt season resumes at this venue next Monday.

“Bring on the jumps now! I’ve been down at Henry’s quite a bit. He has the yard in fantastic shape and really looking forward to getting some of them going again and seeing where we’re at.”

Whelan provided his own navigational masterclass to take the It’s Good To Be Back At Limerick Handicap on Global Pass (9/2). Richard O’Brien’s charge was switched to the rail at the two-furlong marker and then squeezed up the inside of Kinch, prevailing quite comfortably in the end.

Ado McGuinness and his right-hand man Stephen Thorne have been recruiting astutely in recent years and Laugh A Minute (11/2) is another very smart purchase.

Runner-up in a Group 3 when with Roger Varian just last year, the five-year-old was a ready winner of the Limerick Race to get Whelan off the mark.

Half Nutz (4/1) was a length-victor of the Well Done To All Frontline Staff Handicap for Colgan and Sheila Lavery, and the Meath rider was very strong in propelling Shanroe (11/1) to the front in the Patrickswell Maiden for older horses for Karl Thornton.

Aidan O’Brien and Wayne Lordan combined to score in the Irish Stallion Farms EBF Maiden for three-year-old fillies

Soaring Monarch (50/1) was the day’s biggest-priced winner but there was nothing flukey about his two-and-a-quarter-length defeat of favourite Stalingrad in the Irish Stallion Farms EBF Maiden for three-year-old colts and geldings, Kevin Manning grabbing the initiative two furlongs out on the Peter Fahey-trained Free Eagle gelding.

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