Princess Child wins head-bobber to right some wrong at Tipperary
Princess Child and Dylan Browne McMonagle (right) win for owners Janine Byrne and John Curley and trainer Joseph O'Brien from Queen Of Thunder in the Group 3 Coolmore Stud No Nay Never Fairy Bridge Stakes. Pic: Healy Racing
Princess Child was long the bridesmaid in stakes races but she righted that wrong with a doughty display in the Group 3 Coolmore Stud No Nay Never Fairy Bridge Stakes in Tipperary.
It wasn’t an entirely satisfactory contest, with no great pace early and some interference in the straight affecting some of the leading fancies, but the Joseph O’Brien-trained and Dylan Browne McMonagle-ridden four-year-old is riding the crest of a wave, following her two good runs at Galway, and she picked up strongly to deny Queen Of Thunder in a photo finish.
“It was a head-bobber, but she’s come out on the wrong side of a good few head-bobbers in her career, so she deserved to be on the right side of that one today,” said O’Brien. “I thought she won the hard way today. It was messy and the pace wasn’t strong.
“I don’t know how many times she got placed in stakes races without winning one, and we were campaigning her aggressively trying to win a stakes race. She built a whole lot of black-type but you have to win one too, and now she has won a Group 3.
“I would say that will be a career-best on the figures. When a horse wins a race, they do get confidence from that.”
With the news that Ballydoyle stable jockey Ryan Moore will miss much of the remainder of the season due to a broken leg, Wayne Lordan is certain to reap the benefit, and the Cork rider made a positive start, adding two morehe to his season’s tally by guiding Endorsement and Mississippi River to victory.
While it required plenty of grit, Endorsement got the job done in good style when winning the Camas Park Irish EBF Maiden. Following a fine second behind classy stablemate Benvenuto Cellini on his first start, the Wootton Bassett colt was a well-backed even-money chance to go one place better and, thanks to a strong ride by Lordan, he obliged in this nine-furlong race. Clearly a staying prospect for next season, he can step forward considerably from this and make it in graded company.
Mississippi River and Bravais had a real set-to from start to finish in the Glenvale Stud Race, and it was the former who shaded the verdict after a remarkable contest in which barely a head separated them from flag fall to the winning post. Neither wanted to give best but it was O’Brien’s Mississippi River who edged ahead close home to win by a head.
Local trainer David Marnane recorded a 103-1 double which Redemption Road got underway by causing a 25-1 upset in the Irish EBF Auction Series Maiden. Luke McAteer’s mount had a handy position throughout, led between horses a furlong and a half out, and held the late charge of promising newcomer Madbadanddangerous by half a length.
Promising young rider Darragh O’Sullivan stepped in to complete the Marnane double, doing so aboard 3-1 favourite Jasmine Affanalis in the Breens Farm Machinery Apprentice Handicap. Runner-up in two of her three most recent starts, the filly challenged early in the straight and was nicely on top at the line.
Fozzy Stack and Seamie Heffernan teamed up to take the listed Churchill Stakes here earlier in the month, and they added another listed race to their haul when Grande Marques took the Irish Stallion Farms EBF Abergwaun Stakes.
The experienced three-year-old, who has always been highly tried, set a brisk pace from the outset and found plenty for pressure to see off Erosandpsyche by half a length.
How great it was to see the name Ray Hurley back amongst the winners when El Bello took the Home & Agri Energy Handicap courtesy of a typically fine ride by Nicola Burns.
“It’s been a long time,” said Hurley, who will forever be associated with Whyso Mayo and Imperial Call: “I didn’t have a licence for a good few years, but had the odd point to pointer.
“I met a few of these lads (owners Tom Foley and Don Kingston) and we decided we’d get a few horses, so I renewed my Flat licence a few months ago. I have a few for the Flat and a few for the National Hunt.”
Of El Bello, he added: “I thought he’d be bang there today, as I thought he was unlucky at Sligo. He ran over ten furlongs there and met a lot of traffic. Nicola gave her a super ride today. She’s some rider.”
