Moi Desire swoops to conquer for O’Connell
Helped by the arrival of rain, which eased ground conditions, Moi Desire swooped on the run-in to deny the Paul Carberry ridden Brave Beauty in the Bloomfield House Mares Hurdle, continuing the successful run of trainer Eoin Griffin.
Brave Beauty looked the likely winner when mastering market-rival Sugar Bullet. But O’Connell produced to 10/1 shot with a well-timed challenge to land the spoils by three-quarters of a length.
A delighted Griffin commented: “She lost her way and disappointed us in her last two runs last season. This race looked a good place to start back and the rain arrived just in time. Galway could be in her plans but she has been schooled over fences and jumps well. So we might look at a mares beginners chase first.”
O’Connell completed his double when Keoghs Bar, trained in County Meath by Irene Monaghan, stepped-up on recent efforts to land the Angus Beef Ireland Beginners Chase at the expense of Deputy Consort, the Flemensfirth gelding scraping home by a head from the longtime leader.
The meeting opened with an emphatic win for the long-absent, Dermot Weld trained Daffern Seal in the Follow Kilbeggan Races on Facebook Maiden Hurdle.
Having disputed the lead, the Robbie McNamara ridden seven-year-old stretched clear in the closing stages to slam Granaruid by thirteen lengths.
Kris Weld, representing his father, explained: “He’s had a few growing pains and minor problems. So, although he’s seven, there’s mot much mileage on the clock and patience has been rewarded. He’s a great jumper and handled the track well. He’ll be entered in a handicap, to see what mark he gets and we’ll take it from there.”
Jockey Keith Clarke savoured his first success since last November when Katie’s Jem, trained by Tim Cleary, got the better of Killegney on the run-in to capture the Martinstown Opportunity Handicap Hurdle.
A daughter of Beneficial, Katie’s Jem was recording her second career success and is in foal to Stowaway.
Galway trainer David Kelly continued his good run when Mind The Steps, narrowly beaten at Clonmel last time, justified favouritism in the Michael Moore Car Sales Mercedes Handicap Hurdle, denying Charger by the minimum margin in a driving finish before being confirmed the winner when an objection lodged by Mattie Bowes, rider of the runner-up, was thrown-out.
Kelly was not present and was represented by his father Tom, who described the winner as “a game little horse.”
