David Marnane lands 76/1 Cork double
Maggie Walker and Andrew Slattery won the Irish EBF auction Series Maiden at Cork. Pic: HEALY RACING
Trainer David Marnane and MRC Investments notched a fine 76/1 double with Allsortz and Maggie Walker on rain-softened ground at Cork Racecourse, Mallow.
Maggie Walker, a Key Of Change filly, picked up in great style for Andy Slattery to land the featured Irish EBF Auction Series 2-Y-O Maiden, sweeping past flattering even-money favourite Hanney Boy to score by two lengths, with the winner’s stable companion Desert Alchemist third.
“She’s a lovely filly – Ed recommended the sire and Amy found this filly for us, for only €6,500,” explained Marnane, “We’ve had our first three two-year-old runners of the season tonight and they’ve all shown up.
"I thought this filly was a seven-furlong filly and had my eye on a race in Leopardstown next month. But she did her job well out there and it looked a good solid race. She’s a talented filly and I think she’ll be better on better ground.”
The Bansha House double had been sparked when Allsortz, successful in Dundalk on his penultimate start and dropping to five furlongs for the first time, made all under stable jockey Luke McAteer to land the Follow Us On Social Media 3-Y-0 Handicap, holding off Joyful Tidings and Bad Boy Rizz.
“It was a bit messy with him last year trying different trips,” said Marnane, “But he’s improving all the time and has gone forward with every run this year.
"There’s a three-year-old handicap for him at the Curragh on Derby weekend and, long-term, I’d love to see him in Dubai, on the dirt.”
In the opening Irish EBF Median Sires Series 2-Y-O Maiden, Marnane’s Sirocco Sands shaped with promise in chasing home the experienced, all-the-way winner Belle Of The Ball, who built on her Curragh debut run to triumph for Jessica Harrington and Shane Foley.
“She jumped and rolled and I loved the way she went through the line,” said Foley, “She’s bred to be a seven-furlong filly, but she has plenty of pace. She was a little bit keen at the Curragh and fell in a hole, but she came forward and won well today.”
Gary Carroll, in treble form in Navan on Saturday, struck again when partnering Mark Fahey’s class-dropping four-year-old Carmel’s Phoenix to victory in the Mallow Fillies Maiden.
“We’ll try to find a good staying handicap for her, with cut in the ground,” said Fahey.
Pacioli, a 19th winner of the domestic season for former champion Colin Keane, was described as “very green and very lazy, but open to plenty of improvement” by his trainer Kevin Coleman following his win in the Cork Racecourse Maiden, from which hot-pot Al Haarith was a late withdrawal. The winner is bound for the July Sales.
Trainer John O’Donoghue will consider a return to Cork for the Mallow (Premier) Handicap on June 14 for L L Koulsty following his gutsy win, in the hands of Rory Mulligan, in the Blackwater Apprentice Handicap, the gelding’s second success on this track.
Jordan Breeze, trained by Pat Flynn for his wife Catherine and ridden by apprentice Robyn Donaghue-Leahy, defied top-weight in the five-furlong 0-60 handicap while reserves dominated the concluding Racing Again June 14th Handicap as Deuteronomy (22/1) came from last to first to land the spoils for the father and daughter combination of Robbie and Nicola Burns, at the expense of Miss Crinshawn.
