De Valira antics leave sour taste
To put it bluntly, they simply got no run for their money. De Valira was very reluctant to line up – there were no stalls in use for this contest – and should surely have been withdrawn.
He was well adrift of the other runners down at the start and Seamus Heffernan had to eventually run in with the horse in an effort to get him to join the opposition.
Heffernan then remounted, but De Valira was still far from enthusiastic and a bit adrift of where he should have been when the starter let them go.
He immediately planted himself, took no part, but came under starter’s orders, and it left a sour taste.
Victory went to The Bull Hayes, running as a gelding for the first time and backed from evens to 8-11.
Fran Berry powered him clear at the furlong pole to beat always prominent Long Strand by three and a half lengths.
The Bull Hayes’ trainer, Jessica Harrington, was absent, a victim of yesterday’s air crisis. She was at sales in England and was in the process of making her way home by boat last night.
Berry began his evening when driving the Austin Leahy-trained newcomer Frontier Cabin to victory in the Dandy Man Maiden.
Carrying the colours of Leahy’s wife, Ellen, the daughter of Choisir got up on the line to short-head Victor Totus. Commented Leahy: “Fran was good on her, she was a little green and he kept her up to the task. He thinks she’s a lovely filly and will win again.”
Pat Flynn’s Worldly Wise stayed on powerfully late to grab the Racing Post Breeze-Up Bonus Race.
Zorija Rose and Toraidhe went toe-to-toe a long way out and it really would have been a minor miracle had one of them lasted home.
Zorija Rose was the first to crack, but Danny Grant had timed it to perfection and Worldly Wise swept past Toraidhe in the dying strides to score by three parts of a length.
Reported Flynn: “I thought he mightn’t be fit enough, because he had a break since his last run (over hurdles).
“I will move him up in trip, he’ll stay ten furlongs, and the McDonogh at Galway is the plan.”
Tommy Stack introduced a nice newcomer in Mr Mojito, a son of Danehill Dancer, to easily land the Irish Stallion Farms’ EBF Maiden.
Aidan O’Brien’s Emperor Hadrian was strong in the market, but looked decidely moody when asked for an effort and the winner was far too good inside the furlong pole.
Said Fozzy Stack: “He did it well. He’s fast and could now go for the Marble Hill (Curragh).”
Polar Explorer gave Charles O’Brien his first winner of the season when taking the Derrinstown Stud Apprentice Handicap.
It was also a first ever success for rider Raymond Dawson, who was certainly seen to good effect.
He brought the four-year-old with a steady challenge towards the far side and Polar Explorer was well on top in the closing stages.
Dawson, aged 16, comes from Celbridge, Co Kildare and this was only his second ever ride.
Those who availed of the 4-5 and 8-11 Full Of Hope morning-prices, in the Irish Stallion Farms’ EBF Maiden, had real value. The layers on track were nowhere near as generous and the daughter of Invincible Spirit ended a very tight 1-3 shot.
Full Of Hope, although far from impressive, did her job well enough, quickening away from the furlong pole to beat the front-running Strandhill.
Wayne Lordan, successful in the opener on Mr Mojito, completed a double in the last aboard the Willie McCreery-trained Ionisphere.
The Vettori gelding made every yard of the running, with a determined Lordan keeping him going in terrific style to hold Asiya by a head, with Binocular in third.
The placings of the second and third were reversed, following a stewards’ inquiry.
