Sine Qua Non puts up an immense performancetocomehome 48 lengths clear at Lingstown Reports, pages 4-5
‘Jonathan Fogarty and Barry Ston combined to win the first three ra Lingstown and the fact that all thr were for four-year-olds made it particularly noteworthy’ Page 2
IN F ELE
DEREKO’CONN FOCUS EANORBRODERICK
‘Itwas acrazy week; all Ineednow is to go into the jungle or go on Dancing With The Stars’ The trainer of Fairyhouse winner Lisleigh Lad still hasn’t come down to earth Page 3
DerekO’Connor Straight to thePoint
Stunning displaybySineQua Non thehighlight as Fogartysoars high
RIDINGand training doubles were afeature of the Boulta meetingon Saturday, butthose achievements were put in theshade at Lingstown on Sunday when JonathanFogarty and Barry Stone combinedtowin thefirstthree races in the Gaynestown Stud colours.
Thefact that all three races were for four-year-olds made it a particularly noteworthyfeatfor the Fogartyyard, and that’s beforeyou takeinthe fact that the total winning margin by the trio amountedto almost80lengths
JennyFrancegot the team off to a fine start in themares’race, steppingupfromher debutsecond behindClody Diamond at Umma House. Irode Clody Diamondfor RobJames that dayand liked her a lot so Iwasn’tsurprised that Jenny France woninsuch good style, finishing14lengthsclear of the Denis Murphy-trainednewcomer Queensworthy
JennyFranceisbyWalk In The Park and is out of Jennys Surprise, who startedoff in points for her owner-breeder Denis Reddan and wonamaidenatDromahane.She later wonseven races,two over hurdles and fiveoverfences,for Fergal O’Brien. Shewas atough mare who stayed well and handledtesting conditions
Thefour-year-old geldings’ maiden wasdivided, with 13 runners goingtopostfor the firstheat. Only twoofthem completed, and Fogarty’sMaskedMarvelgelding Sine QuaNon effectively came home alone.The official margin was48 lengths.
Youwould have to sayitwas a stunningdisplaybyapotentially excitingyoungster.AFrench-bred geldingout of amarebySaintDes Saints,he’sbeenthrough the sales ring twice, changinghands for €60,000 in France as atwo-year-old and €90,000 at the Goffs Arkle Sale lastyear.
Thesecond division had11 runners.Onceagain, the Gaynestown horseran them ragged. KindlyPrincewas in command between thelasttwo fences and kept up the gallop to beat the Colin Bowetrainedfavourite Khafre by 16 lengths
TheBoweteam didn’t leave
Lingstownempty-handed. Jack Hendrickrodehis first winner for the champion handler when partneringBobbi With An Itobeatthe only other finisher by ahuge
‘Angels
Dawn finished thirdinlast season’s Thyestes, alevel of form that makesher astrong addition to the hunter-chase ranks’
winner of the four-year-old mares’ maiden.
Consideringher lackof experience,Pat Doyle’sRosaDiaz did well to beat Queens Abbey, afilly who wasplaced at TattersallsFarm last season. TheDoyle stable also took the winner-of-one with Dixie Mafia,ason of Sholokhov.
It wasa good dayfor Sholokhov, alsothe sireofVanderpoel, amaiden winner Irodefor my brother Paurick, while SamCurlingcompleted a trainingdouble with Pa King’s mount Angels Dawn,who hada straightforward task againstonly one rivalinthe mares’ open Theplanisfor the 2023 KimMuir winner to go to Down Royalfor the hunter chase at the Christmas meeting. She’satalentedmarewho wasalmostalongside my mount Inothewayurhthinkin when fallingat the second-lastinlastseason’sKim Muir.Iwas confidentwehad the measureofher butshe would probably have finishedsecond, which would have beena greateffort off amarkof142.
Themarefinishedthirdinlast season’sThyestes,alevel of formthat makesher astrongaddition to the hunter-chaseranks.Fromaneutral pointofview it wasa pitythe Boulta race wasn’t agreat test, buthaving taken that fall at Cheltenhamitwas a nice wayofeasingher backinto action.
margin in the five-year-old mares’ maiden. Colin alsogot on the scoresheet at Moig South on Sundaywith the Eoin Staples-ridden maiden winner Judicial Deference Ienjoyed the day at Boultaon Saturday, riding two winners.Iwas impressed by Real Quartz,aSam Curlingtrainednewcomer who I rode in the second division of the four-year-old geldings’ maiden. He producedagood turn of foot from the lasttoscoreeasilyfrom the Bowe-trainedNorthangerAbbey Irateita good performance because Northanger Abbey hadthe benefit of twoprevious runs.Hewas
fourth on his debutatBorrisHouse in thespringand wasrunner-up to ShabalkoD’Herm, one of Ger Quinn’spromisingearly-season winners, at Toomebridge
Real Quartz is outofanunraced mare who is ahalf-sister to fivePaul Nolan-trainedwinners,including Joncol, twice aGrade 1winner, in the John Durkan MemorialChase and Leopardstown’sHennessy Gold Cup.
Thefirstdivisionalsowenttoa newcomer whosedam is relatedtoa good stayingchaser. TheDenis Hogan-trainedFrankie John is by Walk In TheParkout of asister to EmpireOfDirt, whowon one of the bigCheltenham Festival handicap chases,the Plate, for ColmMurphy and latercapturedthe Troytown Chasefor Gordon Elliott.
Therewas alsoafirst-time-out
SamCurling’s good form continuedatMoigSouth on Sunday. Pa King rode the Order Of St George geldingTell TheTale to winafouryear-old maiden.The other fouryear-old maiden on the card went to Home Made Hero,ridden by Declan Lavery for Warren Ewing.
Alsomakingasuccessful raid from the north wasDavid Christie, who took thelady riders’ openwith theMaxine O’Sullivan-ridden Winged Leader,who battledwell to getthe betterofRocky’s Howya, whose mistakeatthe last was crucial.
It wasstill agood performance by Rocky’s Howyaonhis firstouting since overturningthe top-class Its On TheLineatBallindenisk in May. Winged Leader is havingan incredible runofform. He was crownedchampionpointer last season after winningnine consecutiveracesand is nowfour from four this term.
HEALYRACING
Newcomer FrankieJohnand HarrySwan(left)edgeout FreshKicks(greencap) to clinch the first division of thefour-year-old geldings’maiden at Boulta
Owner-breedertrainer Eleanor Broderick (right) revealswhy she’s changedher mind aboutretiring
ITWAS all ablurafter
Lisleigh Lad’swin in the hunter chaseat Fairyhouse. Idon’t even rememberdoingthe television interview after his race.Itwas adream come true to train awinner on the track. Thewin wasevenmorespecial as Ibred, ownand train him It’s unusualtodoall three thesedays. I’mstill on cloud nine
We couldn’t get€15,000 for Lisleigh Ladatthe Goffs Land RoverSale as athree-year-old, so Ihad to bringhim home and train him.He’sacrackinglookinghorsebut unfortunately he’s notbya popularsire. After he wonIdrovethe whole wayhome and my phone never stopped pinging from the time we left theraces When the yard wassorted, my partner Mattywentout to celebrate. Ilit the fire, poured myself abig glassofwineand satwith my doggies and repliedtoevery single text and message. Therewereover50of them!
Ifeellikea celebrity. RTE Radio playedasmall snippet
NEWS AND VIEWS
‘I’m aglass-half-emptytype.
I’dneedValiumifIwereto have arunneratCheltenham’
of my interview the following morningand after that Igot a phone call from Brenda Donohue,who came down on theSaturdayand interviewed me for CountryWide.Itwas a crazyweek. AllIneed nowis to go into the jungle or go on DancingWith TheStars or something. Ihaveapoint-topointcourseon my land near Fermoy Kilworth and Araglen raced herefor three years before theygot their owncoursenear Kilworth.Thereis amile-round racecourseina40-acre field which we useinthe winter.Ibuilt 12 new stables in 2006 and we putinafivehorsewalker,alungingring and afabulous three-furlong gallop made of recycled glass. My father alwayshad a mixture of broodmares,
youngsters and pointers; most ofthem weren’t very good.I hadtowait until my father passed away in 1995 until I could getmyself agood broodmare called VonCarty. Shewas the foundingmare of all the stockIhavenow Lisleigh Ladwould be her grandson in humanterms Iwas always interestedin horses.Istarted ridingwhen I wastwo years of ageand then grew into the point-topointers.I was never very good at riding, butsure Iloved it
My father absolutely lovedhorses,huntingand the countrylife.Hewas clerkof the scales of the localAvondhu point-to-pointcommitteefor morethan40years.
Iwas secretarytherefor 17 years,then Iwas the chairperson for twoseparate
periodsand nowI’m PR officer.Wehaveamarvelous committeeinthe Avondhu, and we race in Knockanard WhenIstartedout in points we hadplastic fences;they were brutal. We used to ride with just helmets on our heads,noback-protectors or fancygear
In all, Irodethree winners butIshould have hadfour. I should have hadadouble on the daywhenI’d ridden Ballyarthur Crosstowin in Kanturk, then Iwas ridinga mare in the lastand Ijustgot too cockyand fell offher
ButIenjoyeditsomuch.I rode for aboutthree seasons in my late twenties and early thirties.I rode my firstwinner in1978on amarecalled BaobabinTallow. Irodeher in theTetratema Cupone year when she wasin season and she nearly killed me.Iwas tryingtobeatMrs Hill’s horse, YesMan, for fourth and at the lastthe mare hit it and flew me into the air
Thephotographer Liam Healy, who wasgreat palswith my dad, hadjuststartedout in business andhewas standing thereatthe last.Well, Ihit my head abelt off the ground and he shoutedatme“come on old Nell, getupyou’refine”.Ihad a blackeye for days Ioriginally took outmy restrictedtrainer’s licence in 2006, then Ilet it go in 2012. I renewed it to runsome on the trackin2020-21 and I’ve trainedaround ten point-topointwinners,but LisleighLad wasmyfirstonthe track.
Ihavejustthe three in training, Lisleigh Lad and a couple of younger pointers, butthereare about17horses aboutthe place at the moment.
Istopped riding outwhen I gotmyhip replacedbut then Istarted ridingagain until I was65. Idon’t ride anymore, butIjumpedonabold14.2hand cob afew weeks ago and rode him for fivedays. I wassoreafter that!
Ihaven’t hada chance to think much aboutplans for Lisleigh Lad. We mightaim for Down RoyalonStStephen’s Day, butifthereare no suitable hunter chases in the new year we mighthavetogo back to opens It would be greattoqualify for the Foxhunter.It’snot off the agendacompletelybut we must just think aboutthe next race beforeweevendream aboutCheltenham.I’m a glass-half-empty typeof person.I’d need Valium if I were ever to have arunner at Cheltenham. Ilovebreeding. WhenI retire, Iwanttoconcentrateon my bloodstock. Ifoal allmy ownmares here. Isaidthat this wasgoing to be my lastyear,that Iwouldn’t be renewing my trainer’s licence,but nowI’vechanged my mind.Sure, after Lisleigh Ladwinning, Imay keep going.
ELEANOR BRODERICK WAS TALKING TO DEBBIEMcCRELLIS
EoghainWard
Stormtakes atollonLingstown finishers
AFTER aprolonged dryspell which hasaffectedmuch of the autumn campaign themuch sought-after rain arrivedin buckets last week
After beingabsentfor much of the precedingseven weeks, wetweather threatenedto derail theweekend’s fixtures, the ironyofwhichwould not have beenlostonmany.
Thankfully, despite ared warninghavingbeenissuedfor County Corkinthe early hours of Saturday, that afternoon’s fixture at Boulta survived an inspection and wassuccessfully completed, much to the credit of allinvolved Sunday’sfixturesatMoig Southand Lingstownalso proceededuninterrupted, although it wasthe wind, rather than therain, which proved the bigger challenge for runners at the latter wherethe We xfordv en ue’s coas tal location addedtothe challenge presentedbythe strongwind.
Despite the fixture providing the biggestturnoutthis season with 68 runnerstakingtothe track, th erew erejust2 5 finishers,37per centofstarters
That wasfar lowerthanany other fixture this season, with Boulta and Moig South at 76 percentand 64 percent.
Atotal of 38 horses pulledup at Lingstown, which highlightedthe challenge runners faced. Giventhat high number, those non-finishers from the card should not be judged too harshly when reappearingasit wasanextreme test.
Fact To File Grade 1win points the way It hasbeenastrongstarttothe jumpsseason for former Irish point-to-pointers,withFactTo File on Sundayclaiming a second Grade 1this month for the sport’sexports
Adual Grade 1winnerasa novice last season, the sevenyear-old hadthe perfectstartto this campaign when bravely claimingthe John Durkan MemorialChase at Punchestown under Mark Walsh. Thevictory followedonthe heels of EnvoiAllen’ssuccess at Down Royalatthe start of the month,withboth havingbegun their careersinWexfordyards Fact To File made awinning debutasafive-year-old at BellharbourinFebruary2022 when under the ca re of Donnchadh Doyle
It is interestingthat his currenttrainer,WillieMullins, sent him straight over fences last season after his bumper campaign, bypassinghurdling altogether
That mirrorsthe approach the reigningchampiontrainer took with Florida Pearl, oneof the most prolific ex-point-topointerswithwhomhehas beenassociated.
Thetactic worked wonders with that Lismorepoint-topoint winner,who went on to winnine Grade 1races,eight of which came over fences.The
days ahead look to be just as bright forthe seven-year-old Fact To File
Goresbridge and Goffs to sell recent winners
Thereare abusycouple of days in store for connections of form horses,withGoresbridge and Goffs hostingauctionsfor point-to-pointhorses
TheKilkenny-based sales housewillhostthe first of them tomorrow, with acatalogue of morethan50horses assembled, including winnersfromas recently as last weekend.
Colin Bowe offersJudicial Deference after that sonof Ju keb ox Ju ry op ene dh is account by alength in aMoig South maiden.
Twoofthe mostnotable lots arelikely to be Milo Miller and Youlita,apairclosely aligned on recentoutings
Eamonn Doyle’s Milo Miller finishedsecond at Damma Houseatthe beginningofthe month when he hadLoughrea maiden winner Youlita alength and ahalf behind.
Thepaircrossed swords fora second time in the point-topointbumperatFairyhouseon November 12, when the formof their DammaHouse race was confirmed,the pair finishing second and thirdbehindWillie Mullins’Full Confession.
Th em ar gi nf ro mt he Kilkenny venuewas almost replicated,witha length and a quarter between them,soit will be interestingtosee if the pair areasclosely matched whentheycome underthe hammer tomorrow.
TheGoffs Coral Gold Cup sale at Newburyracecourseis expectedtofeature anumber of four-and five-year-old maidenwinners,although the cataloguewas not available at the time of writing.
CAROLINE NORRIS (RACINGPOST.COM/PHOTOS)
Fact To File (nearside) takesthe last with Galopin Des Champs on the waytolandingthe John Durkan Chase
WEST
WATERFORD AT BOULTA SATURDAY
Angels Dawn targets Cheltenham again after debut victory
IT’S a long way from the Cheltenham Festival to Boulta in more ways than one, but Sam Curling’s 2023 Kim Muir Chase winner Angels Dawn made a winning pointing debut in the Kenneally Steel and O’Brien Saddlery Bandon mares’ open.
In a race with only two runners, Angels Dawn, who finished third off a mark of 138 in January’s Thyestes Chase, was bounced out in front by her Cheltenham partner Pa King ahead of 2022 Clonmel handicap hurdle winner Little Token and she eased clear two out to win by six lengths in the colours of breeder Alfred Sweetnam
“We won’t over-race her and the main aim this season is the Ch eltenh am Fo xh un te r,” Curling said. “She’ll now go for the Down Royal hunter chase at Christmas and we’ll take it step by step with her.”
Curling had earlier saddled ex citin g new comer Real Quartz to win the second division of the Goffs Coral Gold Cu p Sa le fo ur -y ear -ol d geldings’ maiden.
Star performance
Real Quartz easily accounted for two proven rivals in taking fashion on his debut
front and had runner-up Champagne Jury for company on his outer throughout
Sporting the familiar La Feline silks of John O’Leary, edged closer from two out and Real Quartz hit the front under Derek O’Connor at the last.
The €45,000 graduate of the 2023 Derby sale then went clear to beat Toomebridge runner-up Northanger Abbey by four and a half lengths
“He’s a huge horse and Derek was very impressed with him. He has loads of pace and Phillip Enright has done a lot of the work with him at home,”
Curling said of Real Quartz, who features among the entries for Saturday’s sale after racing at Newbury.
O’Connor was in double form, winning on Vanderpoel for his brother Paurick in the Kelkab Ltd and The Winner’s Enclosure Bar Conna five-yearold geldings’ maiden.
Vanderpoel, having been pulled up on his only outing last season at Dromahane in mid-April, was bounced out in
The Soldier Of Fortune-sired winner, whose dam is a halfsister to Paul Nolan’s dual Grade 1 winning chaser Joncol, was always positioned close to the lead.
There was little to separate the pair until the victorious son of Sholokhov, a €38,000 acquisition at the 2022 Goffs Land Rover sale, led at the last before coming clear on the run-in to win by ten lengths
Handler O’Connor said Vanderpoel, representing the Three Dudes Syndicate, would be offered for sale at Newbury.
Pat Doyle was also responsible for two winners, opening with newcomer Rosa Diaz in the Coolmore NH Sires fouryear-old mares’ maiden.
Rosa Diaz, a half-sister to Dan Skelton’s six-time winner Hidden Heroics and also related to Irish Grand National runner-up Nine De Sivola, took the measure of the more experienced Queens Abbey on the flat to win by a neck under Rob James The mare will also go through the ring at Newbury.
Doyle bookended the card when landing the closing Goffs and Glenview Stud winners-ofone with recent Damma House maiden victor Dixie Mafia, who, in common with Rosa Diaz, is owned by his wife Mary
The five-year-old arrived
STONEHALL AT MOIG SOUTH SUNDAY
‘Unbelievable’
WINGED LEADER took a step closer to becoming the most successful point-to-pointer of all time with his 26th victory. It came in the Cois Sionna Desmond Credit Union ladies open, but it was not without a scare. The reigning champion pointer was up against the 2023 champion Rocky’s Howya in his toughest test this season, and coming to the final fence there was all to play for However, as Emily Cody st ea died Ro cky ’s Howya, knowing she held a slight advantage, his leap was not fluent. Winged Leader and Maxine O’Sullivan flew the fence and, with the momentum that brought, they forged ahead for a length victory to add to the three already banked this season at Portrush, Tattersalls and Quakerstown
“He’s an unbelievable horse
Star performance
Winged Leader came out on top in a dramatic clash of the two most recent champion point-to-pointers
to be doing what he’s doing and we’re delighted,” handler David Christie said “He really skips along on good ground and he even gets through deep ground, but he just finds that holding ground trickier to operate on. I think with the rider’s claim taken into account, he was giving the runner-up 5lb, so that was a fair performance from both him and the runner-up.” Northern raiders were also on the scoreboard in the Goffs Coral Gold Cup Sale four-yearold maiden as Home Made Hero bounced back to form to get Warren Ewing off the mark for the season
from off the pace under a confident David Doyle to lead after the last before quickening clear to beat favourite Bartlemy Boy by a length and a half
Hogan was all smiles after the success of his father Martin’s debutant Frankie John in the first division of the fo ur-y ear -o ld ge ldin gs ’
Winged Leader steps closer
Famed for starting off the Champion Hurdle winner Co nstit uti on Hi ll , the Te mp lep at ri ck ha ndler ensured his former charge was not the only one creating headl ines las t we ek Hi s Westerner gelding returned to the promise shown on his debut at Castlelands in March by beating Kilnesare Flight by three and a half lengths in the hands of Declan Lavery
“We’ve always liked him and he ran very well first time out,” Ewing said. “You can put a line through his second run last season as my horses weren’t right at the time He did it very nicely today and enjoyed the softer ground.”
That was one of two fouryear-old maiden races on the card, with the Goresbridge P2P Sale, PJ Dore and Top Of The To wn As ke at on-bac ke d
auction contest producing a thrilling finish, with the judge un ab le to spl it the Sa m Curling-trained Tell The Tale, and Luke Murphy’s Rouban Forceonmyown had things a lot easier in the Roche’s Feeds Limerick mares’ maiden, taking a step forward after her summer break The Denis Ahern-trained daughter of Workforce had not run since finishing last in a point-topoint bumper at Tipperary in Ma y bu t re tu rne d mu ch improved, with Dungourney ri der Mi ch ael Ke nne all y guiding her to an eight-length defeat of Currish Lane
“She’s a mare we think a bit of,” Ahern said. “She had a lovely first run in Dromahane last April and we then gave her a run in a point-to-point bumper That was the making of her really.”
Th e mor e exp er ience d
Judicial Deference made his previous five runs count by continuing a good start to the season for Duncormick rider Eoin Staples in the Brian Collins Bookmaker Askeaton five-year-old-and-upwards geldings’ maiden.
Despite beating just one rival at Tattersalls on his return, the €30,000 Goffs Arkle sale buy took advantage of the opportunity to beat Howdoyalikeherhome by a length, giving reigning champion trainer
Colin Bowe his 18th winner of the season, ten more than his nearest rival and with a strikerate of almost one in four
“It’s nice to get that for Colin,” Staples said. “The first couple of runs by this horse last season were nice, but then Colin’s horses were under a cloud and he lost his form.”
Few horses have had as busy a campaign as Milan Forth, but the five-year-old showed just how well he is taking his races as Simon Cavanagh’s charge notched his third win from five outings across the opening eight weekends of the season in the INHS Committee and Hanley Family winners-of-two for novice riders
Turning out just eight days after winning at Kirkistown, Kevin Healy’s mount was left clear by the departure of Magic Sadler two out and, despite idling coming to the last, he was able to hold off I Masked Du Potier by half a length
“He’s coming along nicely,” Healy said. “He got lonely in front before the last but when the other horse came to me he picked up again He’s tough and may go for a maiden hunter chase next.”
Denis
maiden. The son of Walk In The Park mastered Fresh Kicks 50 yards out under Harry Swan to win by a neck. The Peter Croke-trained Go
KILLINICK AT LINGSTOWN SUNDAY
Sine Qua Non stars in Fogarty-Stone hat-trick
LO CA L train er Jo nat ha n
Fogarty and rider Barry Stone landed the first hat-tricks of their careers when winning the opening three races by a total of 78 lengths
to record
All three horses are owned by Gaynestown Stud Partnership and the most impressive of the trio was French-bred newcomer Sine Qua Non, who thrashed his rivals by 48 lengths in a division of the Tattersalls Cheltenham December Sale and DR Logistics and Warehousing four-year-old geldings’ maiden.
Battling gale-force winds from Storm Bert, conditions were extremely challenging and only two of the 13 runners completed the course
However, Sine Qua Non made light of the conditions and, after making his way to the front at the sixth of the 14 fences, he stormed clear of toiling rivals up the incline to the second-last to beat Loaded And Locked.
The son of Masked Marvel, who cost €90,000 at the Goffs Arkle sale, is a brother to Listed-placed French hurdler Fast Vision, and the style of his victory surely means a lot more will be heard about him
“That was savage,” Fogarty
Star performance
Sine Qua Non looked in a different class in winning by 48 lengths on his debut
said. “His homework has been very good; he’ll now be sold.”
The Fogarty-Stone combo’s opening winner came in the Goffs Coral Gold Cup Sale and Cooney Furlong four-year-old mares’ maiden with Jenny Fr an ce , a re cen t de bu t runner-up at Umma House.
The daughter of Walk In The Park, a €52,000 Goffs Arkle sale graduate, disputed the lead until coasting clear two out to beat newcomer and market rival Queensworthy by 14 lengths.
“She was just a bit green the first day in Umma House,” Fogarty said of Jenny France, whose dam Jennys Surprise won seven races and was placed in a Listed chase in Britain Fogarty and Stone’s third wi nne r, Kin dl y Prin ce , another French-bred debutant, landed the second division of the geldings’ maiden.
Th e im po sin g wi nner, bought for €100,000 at the 2022 Arqana summer sale before be in g le d ou t un so ld at €135,000 at last year’s Derby
sale, picked up the running four out.
While having to be pushed along briefly approaching two out, the winning son of Great Pretender was in a different league to his rivals as he stayed on strongly to account for Khafre by 16 lengths.
“He’s a mighty horse who just needed time,” Fogarty said of Kindly Prince, a brother to Auteuil Grade 1-placed chaser In Love
Ian McCarthy’s Fountain House, runner-up in last se as on ’s Ladi es Cu p at Punchestown, supplemented recent successes at Loughrea and Damma House by winning the Neville Hotels open over the banks course.
Patiently ridden by Eoin Ma hon, Fo un tain Ho us e moved closer over the double bank seven out and hit the front after the fourth-last.
While long-time leader Knockiel Synge rallied on the run-in, he was never going to reel in the triumphant six-yearold, with two and a half lengths separating the pair
McCarthy said his wife Nicki’s winner would have a break with a view to returning for the Punchestown festival.
Stuart Crawford and Stephen Connor combined to land the Fintan Carroll & Sons and Kilmore Potatoes five-year-old ge ldin gs ’ ma iden wi th newcomer Jackpot Cauveliere The son of Kamsin led from two out and the 2022 Goffs Arkle sale graduate then surged clear to beat Ashtown Park by 20 lengths Jack Hendrick partnered his first winner for Colin Bowe on Bobbi With An I in the Gain Equine Nutrition and Merry Elf five-year-old mares’ maiden.
The Kapgarde-sired mare had pulled up on her debut at Castletown-Geoghegan last mon th bu t sh e as su me d command two out to beat the pacesetting Justlikejessejames by 40 lengths
Courtown-based ownertrainer-breeder Patrick Doyle struck with seasonal debutant Sir Ollie in the Rathangan Bar and INHSC older maiden.
The Bertie Finn-ridden sixyear-old, who had finished second twice last season, led from the sixth fence but had his task simplified when the challenging favourite Highway Skyline, who looked dangerous,
Pictures HEALY RACING
unseated hat-trick hero Stone at the second-last
Frankie, owned and bred by Maurice Sheehy, earned his just reward for the consistency of finishing in the frame on four previous occasions, by leading
from the last for Brian Lawless to land the McDonnell Bros and David Allen Engineering five-year-old-and-upwards maiden.
The Sam Curling-trained debutant Real Quartz (left) gets the better of Northanger Abbey to land the second division of the four-year-old geldings’ maiden
Fountain House (yellow and blue) takes his tally to three wins from three this season with success in the Neville Hotels open
Eoin Staples continues his good form by scoring in the five-yearold-and-upwards geldings’ maiden aboard Judicial Deference
