Hennessy dominates the opening round of Cork Oaks
The trainer’s treble was instigated by Shes A Tornado, who looked ideally housed on the rails in heat two.
The bitch broke best of all and was comfortably clear racing to the turn. Sent off the 4-7 favourite, she asserted her superiority down the back, racing clear to set up a five and a half lengths victory in 28.83.
If Shes A Tornado was dominant, Priceless Spark was in a different league as she became the middle leg of the treble in heat three. There were a couple of smart early pacers in opposition but the 1-2 favourite accelerated superbly to take control long before the first turn. From there she strode majestically clear, winning by more than eight lengths, in 28.79.
The fastest heat winner was, perhaps a touch surprisingly, Tailteann Queen, who completed the Hennessy treble. Having her first competitive spin around the track, she asserted to take control from favourite Lass Cause around the opening bends and ran strongly to see off the staying-on market leader by two and a half lengths in 28.64.
The other heat went the way of James Kennedy’s Tivoli Maeve. A winner on her debut at the track just a week earlier, she used the inside line well as she took advantage of some first-bend crowding to move to the front around the opening bends. Favourite Smoke Pixie loomed as a real danger down the back and held every chance off the last bend but Tivoli Maeve battled bravely to hold on for a short-head victory in 28.98.
The Betfair Open 600 Trial Stake was the feature on the undercard and the Graham Holland-trained Darian Storm landed the spoils. A July 2010 whelp, the pup popped out in front and made every yard of the running, hanging on grimly to deny the flying finish of Mountaylor Ace by a short head in 31.67.
Elsewhere, Mort and Dan Buckley’s Ders Always One made light of a near five-month absence to take the closing race. Last early, the experienced campaigner picked his way through the field and delivered his challenge perfectly, getting up late to score by a length from long-time leader Colling Wood in 30.25 (550).
