Moore delivers on the double at Leopardstown
BACK IN BUSINESS: Isaac Newton and Ryan Moore win the Group 3 Bahrain Turf Club Desmond Stakes at Leopardstown on Thursday night. Picture: Healy Racing
Isaac Newton landed the Bahrain Turf Club Desmond Stakes in convincing style in Leopardstown, sparking a Group 3 double for Ryan Moore and second leg of an 87-1 brace for Aidan O’Brien.
Bouncing back to form, the Camelot colt settled in third spot behind trail-blazing Audience and favourite Sparan Nua, dropping significantly in trip.
Clearly travelling sweetly turning for home, he closed gradually, hit the front early in the final furlong and was driven out to score by a length and a quarter, from Needle Match with a similar distance back to the long-time leader.
“He’s obviously a miler, which is unusual from the Montjeu line, “stated the winning trainer. “He canters through his races and has plenty of pace — he could even come back in trip.
“He’ll come back here for the Boomerang [the Group 2 Solonaway Stakes] on Champions Weekend. He could be decent.”
Moore had to work a lot harder to complete his big-race double on the Willie Mullins-trained Breeders’ Cup Turf victor Ethical Diamond in the Ballyroan Stakes.
The six-year-old was travelling best into the straight but became involved in a good battle, digging deep to master front-running stable-companion Gaucher (finished third) and, ultimately, his biggest threat, Green Impact, whom he beat by just a short-head.
“That was hard work, but he got the job done,” declared a relieved Mullins. “He had a tough race and it will bring him forward quite a bit.
“He has plenty of entries in Ireland and Britain. But he’ll probably go to Kentucky in September for a $1m mile and a half race. It’s left-handed and he’ll get fast ground there, which will be ideal. Grabel [trained by his father Paddy] won there when it was known as the Dueling Grounds. After that, it’ll be the Breeders’ Cup again.”
And Mullins, also on the mark with all-the-way scorer Ivana D’alco (Brian Hayes) in the Mulhern Leonard Accountants Maiden Hurdle in Sligo, confirmed that third-placed Gaucher is likely to fulfil his entry in the Ebor in York.
Earlier, Aidan O’Brien took the one-mile two-year-old maiden with the stable’s second-string, newcomer Wall Street, ridden by Wayne Lordan, who overcame his inexperience and swooped late to deny Jesus Green, with the winner’ stable-companion Drumbeat third and odds-on favourite Francillon only fourth.
“He had to be good to do that,” said O’Brien. “He was very green and raw. He’s a big horse and should come on a ton. Obviously, he’s a quality horse.”
Sam Coen moved to within one of the season’s leading apprentice Paddy Harnett when Willie McCreery’s Bella Colombia held the late flourish of favourite Darkdeserthighway by a head in the Renault Ireland Handicap.
It was a good night for the Cawley brothers from Craughwell, County Galway as Paul brought Karl Thornton’s Boxing Great (7/4 favourite) with a late surge to land the Leopardstown finale, the Fegentri World Championship Handicap in a blanket-finish.
An hour earlier, Brian Cawley was responsible for In The Minus (Shane Fitzgerald), unlucky in Galway, but a smooth winner of Sligo’s Lighthouse At Clifford Electric Handicap Hurdler, scooting clear on the run-in to triumph by three and a three-quarter lengths.
Also in Sligo, Luker’s Tipple, off the mark over hurdles at the 15th attempt at Downpatrick last time, followed up for Gavin Cromwell and Keith Donoghue in the Kilcawley Construction Rated Novice Hurdle.
“He likes good ground and small fields suit him,” said Donoghue, “He has definitely turned the corner.”
Hotpot of the night, 1-3 shot Circus Hill, trained locally by Mark McNiff, was turned over by Speisialta (14-1), trained in County Wexford by Tony Black and ridden to an all-the-way win by Eoin Staples.
