Superb double gives O’Brien a share of apprentice title

THE battle for the 2010 Apprentice Championship ended in a three-way tie between Gary Carroll, Ben Curtis and Joseph O’Brien following a dramatic night of action at Dundalk last night, when O’Brien completed a superb double to join his two rivals on the 39-winner mark.

O’Brien, who rode a double at Dundalk on Wednesday, won both two-year-old maidens on the card for his father Aidan, on board Empowering and Regent Street, which meant that the three lads went to the start for the final event of the season, the Horse Racing Re To Dundalk On March 25th 2011, knowing that a win would clinch the title.

And, in a dramatic climax to the season, reigning champion Gary Carroll, on board Dark Prospect, got the better of Moyenne Corniche and Bravely Fought inside the final furlong and looked set to clinch the title outright, only to be nailed in the last few strides by the fast-finishing Denny Crane, trained by Eddie Lynam and ridden by Wayne Lordan, which overcame traffic problems throughout the last two furlongs before being switched late to grab glory and deny Carroll the crown outright