O’Brien chalks up 60th winner

Joseph O’Brien followed-up his superb four-timer in Naas on Wednesday with a double on Great Explorer and veteran Fosters Cross in Leopardstown last night, bringing his seasonal tally to 60 winners.

And it was the victory of Fosters Cross, trained by Tom Mullins for Pat O’Donovan, which stood out as the eleven-year-old registered his tenth career success and proved himself on course for a probable return to Galway, where he won the big amateur handicap in 2011, three days before finishing second to Moon Dice in the Guinness Galway Hurdle, and where he won over fences last September.

Trainer Mullins commented: “We didn’t really expect to win tonight, but hoped he’d run well, getting ready for Galway. He’s off a nice mark, 136, for the Galway Plate, so we must think about that. Or he could go to Tipperary on Sunday week (for the Grimes Hurdle). We’ll have to talk about it.”