Byrnes bounces back with Spy victory at Listowel
Spy & Philip Byrnes (blue cap) jump the last to win the Racing TV handicap Hurdle. Pic: HEALY RACING
An ability to respond positively to adversity is a key component of life as a sportsperson and Philip Byrnes displayed such powers of resilience with a power-packed ride to partner Spy to victory in the Join Racing TV With A Free Trial Now Handicap Hurdle at Listowel on Monday.
Top weight Becasse led his rivals a merry dance from the front and a good jump at the last looked to have sealed victory for the 11-2 shot.
However, 8-1 shot Spy, trained by the jockey’s father Charles, powered home after the last to snatch an improbable victory by half a length, a timely boost for a jockey who made headlines for the wrong reasons last Thursday when he was hit with a 21-day ban for dangerous riding by the Limerick stewards after 11-8 Marian Avenue was disqualified from first place in a dramatic handicap hurdle.
“Philip kept him out on the good ground and that made all the difference,” Charles Byrnes said of Spy’s success. “He [the horse] kept at it well. It [winning] didn’t look likely, he’s a small bit of a monkey, he keeps a bit for himself, but Philip was good and strong on him and I’m delighted to get the win.”
The admirably consistent Jesse Evans claimed his second win over fences and his 11th triumph overall when landing the John J. Galvin Chase for trainer Noel Meade and jockey Sam Ewing.
There was little separating the 10-year-old and Blood Destiny on the run to the last but the runner-up pecked on landing and Jesse Evans scampered clear to win by nine lengths.
Jesse Evans finished second in the Galway Plate last year and all roads will now surely lead back to Ballybrit.
“You wouldn’t ride much faster than him over a jump and we changed tactics today and he won well,” Ewing said.
Asked about the last fence drama, Ewing felt his horse still had more to give.
“I hadn’t fully gone for him to be honest,” he said. “But he jumped the last so quickly that it would have taken a fair one to get by him. He ran a big race in the Plate last year and there’s plenty more fun to be had with him. He’s a good horse.”
Jockey Seán O’Keeffe will have been grateful for trainer Andrew Kinirons’s powers of persuasion after winning the Southern Waste Management Mares Handicap Hurdle for the second successive year.
O’Keeffe rode Patty O'Farrell to victory in the race last year but was persuaded by Kinirons to jump ship to Shannon Bank this time.
He was probably rueing that call when Patty O'Farrell hit the front before the second last but 8-1 shot Shannon Bank found more after the last to beat last year’s winner by half a length.
“She’s a game mare, and Seán gave her a great ride,” Kinirons said. “I had a bit of convincing to do to get him off last year’s winner to ride this one but he listened to me, thank God. She’ll go for the summer, she’ll go on nice ground and Seán reckons she’ll go a bit further as well. We’ll have a bit of craic with her.” After doubles at Listowel on Saturday and Sunday, it was no surprise that the Henry de Bromhead-trained Salsinha was sent off the 4-6 favourite for the opening race, the Nora Canty Mares Maiden Hurdle.
Nor was it a surprise that the five-year-old delivered, making most of the running en route to beating Fraher Field by four and a half lengths in the hands of Darragh O’Keeffe.
The winning jockey said: “In fairness to her, she had the form in the book. She jumped really well and while the ground was probably a little bit slower than ideal for her, she got the job done. She’s a mare we always liked so I’m delighted for her owners that she went and did that today.” Successful with Le Fanu on Saturday, Brendan Walsh was back in the Listowel winner’s enclosure after Knockbrack Rambler got the better of Tropical Image to win the John B. Keane Beginners Chase in the hands of Phillip Enright.
Walsh said of the 12-1 victor: “He had been running in the heavy ground and we just changed things up today, and jumped out in front. He locked-on for Phillip and no better man up on his back.” Trainer Michael Barry was a happy man after 10-1 shot Bartlemy Boy won the Beasley Engineering Hunters Chase.
“It has been a long year with him and while he won a couple of point-to-points, things didn't go his way in the hunter chases,” he said.
“It’s great to win at Listowel. “We hadn't a bad year in general as he won two point-to-points and I won with another one as well. I only have three or four horses, so it is easy enough to keep us happy!” Thelittleballerina sent punters home happy when justifying 5-6 favouritism in the bumper.
A runaway winner of a Clonmel bumper in April, the Ian Donoghue-trained mare was confidently handled by jockey Joey Dunne en route to a cosy success.
Donoghue said: “She is a lovely mare, was a bit gassy in the first mile, but Joey was full of confidence and took her back, and she won snugly.
“There have been a few enquiries about buying her since she won at Clonmel, but nothing has happened and she is still for sale. I’d love to hold on to her in my yard and don't want to lose her, so we'll see what happens now.”
