Waiter to serve up treat for O'Sullivan

Eugene O’Sullivan believes there could be one more big race in Head Waiter before the handicapper takes his toll, and he would like it to be in tomorrow’s Listowel Races Supporters Club Lartigue Hurdle.

The Cork trainer’s gelding has been a standing dish at the summer festivals, winning decent prizes at Killarney and Tralee as well as finishing third to Leg Spinner at Galway.

He faces a strong challenge for the 55,000 euro handicap, including Slieve Rocket, Merveilles and Dingle Belle, who all represent Jessica Harrington, but O’Sullivan is in confident mood despite a 9lb hike for his latest success.

“The horse is in excellent order – I just couldn’t be happier with him,” said the trainer.

“He’s the one they have to beat and I think he could still be handicapped OK this time – next time we’ll be in trouble.”

O’Sullivan splits his yard between point-to-pointers and runners under Rules and has a notable association with major jumps owner Trevor Hemmings.

“I have a lot of young horses for Mr Hemmings,” he added.

“I might run them in a point-to-point as babies before they usually go over to England for the big trainers.

“I also train Arctic Times for him who has won 26 point-to-points, so he’s my most prolific, but Head Waiter is certainly doing best for me at the moment.”