Life's a beach for 'Rock' star Nina
The Ger Lyons-trained four-year-old denied last year's winner of the race, Moon At Midnight, by a short head after a rousing battle. And the season's leading amateur has now recorded seven successes on the flat in addition to ten under National Hunt rules this season.
Front-running tactics paid handsome dividends in the early races on the card as locally trained mare Paris Sue and then Dernier Danse successfully adopted front-running tactics to record wide margin successes.
Trained locally by Marcus Callaghan, Paris Sue dictated the pace before shaking off the attentions of Millers Weir in the Apollo Print Solutions Handicap giving apprentice Padraig Beggy a taste of success on his first ride at this unique venue.
Dernier Danse recorded a long overdue success in the Gilna's Cottage Inn Maiden to the delight of trainer Tom Hogan and owner Peter McCutcheon. Seamus Heffernan jumped this filly into the lead from flag fall and she powered clear inside the final furlong to slam Max Scal by six lengths.
Two trainers who made their long journeys to the beach worthwhile were County Limerick-based Susan Finn and Marty O'Toole from Headford, Co. Galway. Chicanery, ridden by apprentice Billy Lee, scored for Finn in the Castlemartin Park claiming race while Dafaroun, bred by the Aga Khan, delighted O'Toole when getting the better of La Motta and favourite Stef's Girl in the O'Neill's Sports Handicap. The victory of 20/1 shot Dafaroun followed by the success in the finale of I Won't Dance (16/1), ridden by Kevin Power, resulted in the jackpot eluding punters and sending a pool of almost €3,000 to the Curragh on Sunday after a frustrating meeting for punters when all six favourites were turned over.
