Fast start at Listowel seals success for Suvenna
The first leg of Foley and Halford’s brace came in the seven furlong handicap, in which Suvenna (9-2) bounced out, set a quick tempo, and found plenty to beat the staying-on Zebgrey by three and a half lengths.
@ListowelRaces #ShaneFoley skips home on #Suvenna 😀 pic.twitter.com/FRsaxsDchj
— Robbie_Mac (@POH_Bookmakers) June 5, 2016
“She jumped and travelled, and stayed going well,” said Foley.
“We liked her a lot last year, and were surprised it took until the last day to win a maiden with her, but hopefully she can go on.”
Foley was made to work a lot harder to complete his double, as the Ken Condon-trained Strait Of Zanzibar (7-1) got up in the dying strides to land the one-mile handicap.
Hurricane Twister, who won the race in 2015, tried gamely to make all but was nabbed by Strait Of Zanzibar, with Plough Boy getting up equally late to separate the pair, in a finish of heads.
Halford had to wait until the finale to complete his double, doing so with Asbury Boss (4-1), ridden by Katie Walsh.
Odds-on favourite Wakea moved to the front down the back and looked in control, but Asbury Boss responded to pressure to assert late, with Weather Watch staying on strongly to take second.
“They went a good gallop and my fella loved the ground,” said Walsh. “Watching his videos, I knew I was going to be off it down the back, and he was, but he responded well. He’ll definitely stay further.”
Lordan had to share the spoils in his first success, as the judge was unable to separate his mount, Fox Dream (12-1), and Mr Adjudicator (20-1) in the opening median auction maiden.
The former, trained by Austin Leahy, was prominent from the off and looked booked for victory approaching the final furlong. However, Mr Adjudicator, ridden by Connor King for Joe Murphy, produced a strong late charge to force a dead-heat.
Said Leahy of Fox Dream: “She has grown so much since she last ran, and that’s why I didn’t run her until now. I love her, and also love the stallion (Foxwedge), who had a stakes winner already this morning in New Zealand.”
Of Mr Adjudicatory, Murphy said: “He’s a lovely horse, and there is huge improvement in him.”
The Tommy Stack-trained Just Joan made it third-time lucky when completing Lordan’s double, in the fillies’ maiden.
High Honcho dictated early and looked to have her rivals in trouble as they turned for home, but when stamina came into play Just Joan responded generously to her rider’s urgings, to get on top late.
“She’d prefer further, but we knew that coming here, and it looked a winnable opportunity,” said assistant trainer Fozzy Stack. “She’ll probably go black-type hunting now, and if that’s achievable or not we’ll find out, but she’ll definitely be stepping up in trip.”
The David Marnane-trained Markhan made the breakthrough with an impressive success in the listowelraces.ie median auction maiden. Well backed all day, the 5-2 chance travelled nicely behind the pace before looming large early in the straight, and then striding clear under Colm O’Donoghue.
Said the winning rider: “He’s a horse David always liked, and the addition of a tongue-tie made a big difference. He got into a good rhythm, and started to breathe properly. A lot of them were beaten a long way out, so I don’t know how strong the contest was, but he has done it well.”
The Jim Gorman-trained Busy Bush earned a long overdue first success when leading late to land the St John’s Literary Centre Handicap under Kevin Manning.
