Betterbetterbetter 25/1 to improve on family record in Epsom Oaks
Runner-up to Princess Highway on her debut at Leopardstown last month, the Galileo filly edged ahead at the two-furlong pole and, ridden out with hands and heels by Joseph O’Brien, she stayed to score readily by two and three-quarter lengths from Jim Bolger’s debutante Miss Ekaterina.
The winning rider commented: “She’s still a green filly and wasn’t mad about the surface.
“But she’s a lovely filly with a good attitude. She wasn’t doing a stroke in front, on her own. She should keep improving.”
While a maiden success at Dundalk might appear a far cry from the Investec Oaks at Epsom, it should be noted that Betterbetterbetter’s sisters Quarter Moon and Yesterday (both second) and All My Loving (third) were all placed in the Epsom Oaks. And, on this evidence, the Ballydoyle filly stays a mile and a half well.
Earlier, the David Wachman-trained Durtle (Wayne Lordan) produced what can only be described as an amazing display to make all in the one-mile Irish Stallion Farms Fillies Maiden.
The once-raced Danehill Dancer filly drew clear steadily in the straight to slam Miss Forde by no less than eighteen lengths. Lordan admitted: “I got a handy lead and just slapped her down the shoulder to keep her up to her work. She kept picking up and loved the surface, but I didn’t realise she had won by so far.”
Her trainer commented, by phone: “We liked her last year when she ran well in her only outing. But she was a big two-year-old and needed time. She did her job well today and will step into stakes company now.”
Durtle was a the first leg of a double for the Wachman/Lordan partnership, completed when Tannery, runner-up in two Dundalk maidens last year and on her handicap debut at Leopardstown last month, got off the mark in the Follow Dundalk On Facebook Handicap, getting the beter of front-running Shabra Emperor by a half-length.
Also in double form were Joe Murphy and Pat Smullen, successful with Hawkswood and Northgate, which made a successful reappearance after a creditable third in the listed Heritage Stakes at Leopardstown on Sunday.
Northgate defied top-weight of 10-0 readily in the finale, to the delight of Joe Murphy Jnr., son of the trainer. “We took a chance running him back so soon after his first run of the season but he showed no ill effects.
“He’s a real fast ground horse and loves it here. He’ll step up in trip now, in stakes races, and could go for something like the Saval Beg at Leopardstown. There might be something for him in Royal Ascot and he’ll probably jump hurdles too, on fast ground.”
A recent course and distance winner, Hawkswood earlier battled tenaciously under Pat Smullen to foil the flattering Word For Word by a half-length in the DKIT Student Race Night Handicap.
Murphy Jnr. stated: “He probably needs a mile and a half and we’ll come back here again. He’s tough and will go hurdling later in the year.”
