Smullen moves to within one of O’Brien in title race

Pat Smullen moved within one of Joseph O’Brien in the race for the Jockeys Championship when Along Came Casey, trained by Dermot Weld for his mother, bolted-up in the Next Meeting At Gowran Park October 5th & 6th Handicap last evening.

Fifth in the recent Irish Cambridgeshire, Along Came Casey justified hefty support (backed into 6/4 favouritism), stretching clear to slam Cheval Rouge by more than four lengths.

On a night when he saddled three seconds, Weld commented: “She had a good run in the Irish Cambridgeshire. This was a less competitive race and she appreciated the bit of better ground. We’ll look for some black type with her now.”

Horizon Sky, no match for Einsteins Folly over course and distance recently, made amends when defying top-weight in the Rooftop Restaurant At Gowran Park Nursery, running on strongly to beat Ballyorban by two lengths.

The Duke Of Marmalade colt, which initiated a double for Wayne Lordan, is trained by David Wachman, who explained: “He ran a good race the last day and deserved a change of luck. He likes a bit of good ground and, although I have no definite plans, I’d imagine he might go for another handicap.”

Beaten by three-year-old Lebron at Wexford last time, the Jim Bolger-trained Cul Baire justified favouritism in the finale, the www.gowranpark.ie Maiden, readily outpacing the Weld-trained Train of Thought in the closing stages to win by three lengths. Cul Baire was confidently ridden by Kevin Manning, whose wife Una owns the son of Kings Best.

Ger Flynn, representing Bolger, said: “That’s compensation for Wexford. The better ground was a big help, because he has plenty of pace and speed. The boss will probably see what the handicapper thinks of him.”

John Murphy, among the winners at Killarney on Tuesday, continued in good form, winning the opening two-year-old maiden with a newcomer, High Octane, supported at big prices in the morning and sent off at 10/1, and following-up when Ibsen (second leg of a double for Wayne Lordan) dead-heated with Seamus Fahey’s Hazariban (Shane Foley) in the second division of the Goresbridge Handicap.

High Octane, a Motivator colt, ridden by Seamus Heffernan, showed signs of inexperience before knuckling down to beat Military Device by almost two lengths, prompting his trainer to state: “He’s been ready to run for a while, but we were waiting for the ground. Good ground is the key to him.”