Island Confusion destroys opposition
Island Confusion (evens), who changed hands for €42, 000 at the Goffs Invitation sale at the Punchestown festival in April after finishing second to Inch Rock on his debut at Quakerstown, was bounced out in front by Pat Collins. The towering son of Heron Island made all the running under Pat Collins, giving an exhibition of fencing in the process, and he eased clear from the penultimate of the 15 obstacles to defeat main market rival Rockchasebullett by an unextended six lengths.
The first instalment of the four-year-old maiden witnessed a dead-heat between Mikey O’Connor’s mount Ben Akram (8/1) and Henry de Bromhead’s Saltmills Blackie (6/4).
he David O’Brien-trained Ben Akram seemed sure to succeed when blundering at the final fence. Saltmills Blackie, runner-up on his only previous start at Ballingarry back in June, duly made his way to the front some 75 yards out with Paul Power only to be joined literally on the line by Ben Akram.
Battlefront (1/2), unbeaten on his eight starts in points last season, made a victorious return to the fray with his handler Ted Walsh’s daughter Katie in the ladies open. Battlefront however had to be posed a few serious questions by Ms Walsh in the closing stages to beat the previous Sunday’s Loughrea winner Nedzer’s Return by two lengths. The ten-year-old Battlefront incidentally has this season’s Aintree Foxhunters as his long-term target.
‘Shark’ Hanlon’s Coolking (7/2), a creditable third to Alf Wright in an extended two-mile maiden hurdle at Clonmel in February, put his vast track experience to good use by landing the first heat of the five and six-year-old geldings’ maiden in the hands of ‘Corky’ Carroll.
Coolking, who will be offered at Doncaster sales next month, asserted from before the final fence to thwart the promising Leave It Be by one and a half lengths.
