O’Brien at the double
Seamus Heffernan explained: “He’s a very well-bred colt (a half-brother to Mars) and improved a fair bit form his first run. He should continue to progress,” after the Galileo colt Toscanelli justified 8/13 favouritism in the two-year-old maiden, sweeping past front-running Soebrotto at the furlong-pole to triumph by almost three lengths.
Successful on Macbride in a bumper on this track last month, Sarah O’Brien provided her trainer-father with the second leg of the double when 4/5 shot Marchese Marconi captured the finale, the Derek Ryan 24th July Race.
Having taken command from front-running Mourad, the five-year-old stayed on under pressure to hold the challenge of Gusty Rocky (Katie Walsh) by three lengths.
Marchese Marconi has now triumphed four times, twice each for last night’s rider and her brother Joseph.
Under a confident ride by Pat Smullen, the Dermot Weld-trained debutant Stay De Night recorded an emphatic win in the opening Croom House Stud Maiden.
Well-supported all day and sent off 4/5 favourite, the gelded son of Shamardal missed the break but was soon tracking the leaders and, when produced to challenge, soon asserted, stretching clear to win comfortably by almost three lengths.
Kabjoy, trained by Jessica Harrington and strongly-ridden by apprentice Conor Hoban, battled to get the better of flattering odds-on favourite Red Raven by a head in the fillies maiden, ending a sequence of second placings in handicaps.
Danny Grant was banned for two days, for careless riding, following Knight Templar’s narrow defeat by Ken Condon’s In Salutem (Shane Foley) in the seven-furlong limerickraces.ie Handicap.
Meanwhile, the Colin Bowe-trained Little King John might be aimed at the Guinness Galway Hurdle (according to the trainer’s assistant Brendan Walsh), with a prep run in Tipperary’s Grimes Hurdle, following her convincing all-the-way win in the www.thetote.com Mares Hurdle in Down Royal. The 5/4 favourite was scoring for the third time under Mark Walsh.
