Blanc De Blanc dazzles at Dundalk and earns Guineas talk
Blanc De Blanc and Donagh O'Connor won the €40,000 Dundalk Stadium Patton Race for trainer Robson De Aguiar and owner Amo Racing Limited.
Building on her debut success over course and distance last month, Blanc De Blanc impressed when landing the €40,000 Dundalk Stadium Patton Race for Amo Racing, Robson De Aguiar and Donagh O’Connor.
An uneasy 7/2 favourite, the classic-entered $575,000 purchase tracked stable-companion Flanker Jet all the way, eased ahead with a furlong and a half to race and quickened clear to win in great style, beating Whatchadoin by three lengths.
“She learned plenty from the first day,” said stable representative Ryan McElligott, “That was a nice effort, beating the colts. We’ll raise our sights now – she could go straight to a Guineas, or take in a trial on the way. She’s in the French and Irish Guineas and we’ll put her in Newmarket before it closes on Monday.”
Dropping back in trip after a clear-cut handicap success in early December, the Willie Mullins-trained Gaucher, a three-time Grade Three winner over hurdles, bolted up in the Floodlit Fridays At Dundalk Stadium Race, giving Billy Lee no worries on his way to the second leg of a fine double.
Winning rider Billy Lee declared, “He gave me a great feel. He carried me everywhere, picked up into the straight and won as he liked. He has a fair engine and kept going well. It was a really good performance.”
Iff In Doubt got off the mark for Eddie Lynam when justifying 7/2 favouritism in the Dundalk Winter Series Leading Trainer & Jockey Championship Handicap, a first winner of 2026 for Billy Lee and the first leg of a double.
Denis Hogan continued his rich vein of form with an early 50/1 double, sparked when The Liffey landed the Irishinjuredjockeys.com Claiming Race in the hands of promising apprentice Reese Holohan (he completed his first double on Mark Fahey’s Daonethatgotaway on his first attempt at a mile and a half) and crowned when English apprentice Elizabeth Gale made it three from three on the flat in Ireland on board Oxford Circus in the six-furlong maiden.
Jim Bolger registered his first winner since last September when Neo Smart (9/1) swept through late to take the BAR 1 Betting Handicap in the hands of Declan McDonogh, who said, “That’s the first time she has quickened like she does at home. She was very relaxed and quickened really well when she saw daylight. It’s the first time I got to ride her the way I wanted.”
