Excalibur consolation for O’Brien and Spencer
Earlier in the evening, the inimitable duo had landed on the racecourse, after making the journey from Newmarket by helicopter.
Excalibur created a big impression on his debut at the Curragh at the back-end of last season and certainly confirmed he is a colt to keep on your side.
The son of Danehill travelled sweetly throughout for Spencer, lengthening clear early in the straight to beat Lord Admiral unextended by six lengths.
“He’s a fair horse”, said O’Brien.
“I’m not sure where he will go next, but is in all the good races.”
Commenting on Antonius Pius, O’Brien remarked: “He ran well, Jamie said the ground had gone a bit dead for him. I don’t have any plans at the moment.”
Frances Crowley’s Kay Too did the business in the Irish Stallion Farms’ EBF Maiden, but only after getting the better of a tough tussle with O’Brien’s Desert Tigress and then surviving a stewards’ inquiry.
The pair went toe-to-toe through the last two furlongs, with Pat Smullen just poking the winner’s head in front in the final stride.
Desert Tigress, initially, went across towards Kay Two and then the latter hung in on his rival close home. The stewards were never going to reverse the result.
Commented Crowley: “I was hoping he’d win his maiden, it’s just a pity he had to have such a hard race. I will have to talk to Pat before making any future plans.”
Dermot Weld wasn’t at the meeting, but will surely point Direct Bearing, one would have thought, at the Galway Plate following a smooth success in the Woodlands Catering Chase.
Stable companion, Stage Affair, made the running but there was only going to be one result once Barry Geraghty asked the winner to go on between the last two fences.
“He jumped brilliantly, except for getting in close to the fifth”, reported Geraghty.
Speaking from home, Weld later said: “He will go for the GPT Handicap at Galway on the Monday and/or the Plate.”
Geraghty completed a double when making nearly all aboard the relatively experienced Kickham in the Say Again Beginners Chase.
Easy to back in the ring, he already had the measure of market leader, Red Or White (2-1 to 11-8) when that one gave Ruby Walsh a crashing fall at the second last.
Walsh, thankfully, was okay but Red Or White wasn’t so lucky, breaking both his front legs.
Kickham’s trainer, Edward O’Grady, was loud in his praise of course manager, Peter Roe. “Great credit has to go to Peter and his staff, this is the best ground we have raced on during the dry period”, he said.
Eddie Lynam’s heavily-backed Empirical Power made just about all the running to land the banshahousestables.com Handicap.
He was strongly pressed through the last furlong by Marfooq, but held on under a powerful Declan McDonogh drive.
Said Lynam: “That’s a relief, we haven’t had a winner for two weeks and have been beaten in four or five photo finishes in the meantime. He will go to Galway for a Premier handicap on the Saturday over seven furlongs.”
The Sean Barrett Bloodstock Insurances-Aon Handicap Chase didn’t take a lot of winning, but produced a clear-cut success story in Danaeve.
He cantered into the lead after three out for Robert Power, who didn’t have to be in any way hard on him to hold the token challenge of the less than enthusiastic Thari.
Niall Madden gave Davenport Democrat a tremendous ride to come between horses in the closing stages and beat Where’s Eddie and the front-running Liberty Flag a short head and a head in the Bumper.
