Tal still on course for Ayr
Ridden by stable apprentice Donagh O’Connor, the Dark Angel gelding got up late to foil front-running Majestic Timeline (Chris Hayes) by a head, completing a fine hat-trick on the polytrack.
Levins reaffirmed his plans: “He’s going the right way and is heading towards premier handicaps – he should get into the bottom of the big races. The long-term plan is still the Ayr Gold Cup and, even further ahead, he could be a horse for Dubai next year.”
Denied on Majestic Timeline, Chris Hayes had a straight-forward task on the Andy Oliver-trained Have A Great Day, which defied an absence of more than a year in the www.dundalkstadium.com Maiden.
The 15/8 favourite made all to slam Cutting Corners by six lengths, prompting trainer Oliver to explain: “All credit to my head lad Roger Bradley – this horse showed promise as a two-year-old but had plenty of setbacks last year. Roger has done a lot of work with him. The horse likes this surface and looks a nice horse for the future.”
Hayes completed a double when Shalaman, trained by Matthew Smith battled tenaciously to get the better of Whipper’s Boy and Cullentry Royal in the concluding Crowne Plaza Leading Jockey & Trainer Championship Handicap.
The winner, successful in Killarney last summer, was returning after a break, as Smith stressed: “He ran badly here in November, so we freshened him up. We knew coming here tonight that he was in good shape. The plan now is to come back here for a fast-track qualifier next month (March 6).”
Both Donnacha and Ana O’Brien were on the mark, Donnacha (who also rode beaten favourites Bishan Bedi and Sharjah) scoring on Elusive In Paris in the one-mile apprentice handicap and Ana partnering Song Of Love to a family victory in the mile maiden.
Elusive In Paris, which beat dead-heaters Captains Dilemma and Fairy Foxglove, is owned by HRI Chairman Joe Keeling and was a first winner since July for Curragh trainer Michael Grassick.
It was Ana’s turn in the Elusive Pimpernel Maiden as Song Of Love, appreciating the return to a mile, justified 11/10 favouritism, foiling Hat Alnasar by a head. `The home-bred is trained by Aidan O’Brien for his wife Anne Marie.
But there was no joy for Song Of Love’s stable-companion and odds-on favourite Bishan Bedi, ridden by Donnacha, in the one-mile Floodlit Friday Nights Handicap.
In a muddling race, which turned into a sprint up the straight, the Colin Keane-ridden top-weight Tennessee Wildcat got the better of the favourite by a neck.
