Double delight for Fozzy Stack at Navan
DOUBLE TROUBLE: Double Agent and Wayne Lordan, right, win the Safer Gambling Navan Maiden on Wednesday. Picture: Healy Racing
Fozzy Stack secured an early double on Wednesday’s card in Navan, doing so with riders at polar opposite ends of their respective career. Multiple Classic-winning jockey Seamie Heffernan set the ball rolling, aboard Bodhi Bear, and promising young claimer Darragh O’Sullivan completed the double aboard New Theory.
Bodhi Bear completed his own 3-2-1 sequence with a good display in the opener, the Irish Stallion Farms EBF Median Auction Maiden. The 13-8 chance made most of the running and while the heavily-backed 5-4 favourite Mathan travelled close to the pace and held every chance, he found plenty for pressure to put almost two lengths between them.
O’Sullivan, who had seven track successes prior to his visit to Navan, brought up the brace when New Theory came out on top in a four-way finish to the Irish Stallion Farms EBF Maiden. The youngster switched his mount to lead between horses with a furlong to go and drove her on stylishly to deny Turners Cross, Snapdragon and the fast-finishing Lunigiana by a neck, a short head, and a nose.
Iva Batt made the Safer Gambling Handicap a bit more interesting by building up a considerable lead before halfway and, for a period, it looked as though she might have slipped the field.
However, she eventually first surrendered the lead to subsequent winner Rosato and then lost two more places close home. The winner, trained by Charles Weld and ridden by Niall McCullagh, was a course-and-distance winner here two runs previously and again showed her affinity to the nuances of the track.
When White Clover finished a close sixth in a Curragh maiden on debut in April of this year, it looked as though a maiden success was a formality. Subsequently, there were plenty of placed efforts, but her turn came at the eighth time of asking as she showed a good attitude to take the Navan Racing Festival Early Bird Tickets Maiden for Joe Murphy and Garry Carroll.
Double Agent gave Aidan O’Brien his 16th winner of the month to date when showing great determination to take the Safer Gambling Navan Maiden under Wayne Lordan. He looked vulnerable to the challenges of Sanctity Of Space, Pinkerton and, lastly, If You Let Me, but fended them off one by one to secure his breakthrough.
James Ryan joined Wayne Hassett at the top of the apprentice jockeys’ championship race with 30 winners after getting the Conor Maxwell-trained Kool One up in the final strides of the first division of the 14-furlong handicap. In reeling in Café Con Leche, he denied a winner to fellow apprentice Adam Caffrey, who is just one behind in the title race.
Earlier in the day, another promising apprentice, Rory Mulligan, secured his fourth winner in 10 days when taking the Blackcastle Handicap aboard the Joseph Murray-trained Mickey The Steel.
In the finale, the second division of the one-mile-six handicap, Billy Lee brought Say It So from last to first to win the 19-runner race by a wide margin. For winning trainer Eric McNamara, it was a fourth winner in five days, the other three all over jumps last weekend at Limerick.
