First win for delighted Condon with Lake Chad at Clonmel
Lake Chad & Tessa Condon win the Kilclooney Woods Handicap Hurdle. Pic: HEALY RACING
Thursday’s meeting at Clonmel was a landmark day for Tessa Condon as the Cork jockey rode her first winner when partnering Lake Chad to victory in the Kilclooney Woods Handicap Hurdle.
“I’ve never felt anything like it,” an elated Condon said after the Philip Fenton-trained 11-year-old, making his first start over the smaller obstacles since November 2024, landed the spoils by a half-length from fellow 25-1 shot Dark Lieutenant.
“All credit goes to Philip, I’ve been with him for two years and he has been nothing but good to me. And I’m especially delighted to have done it on Lake Chad because he’s a stable favourite.”
Lake Chad was nearer last than first in the early part of the race but, while that was not the pre-race plan, it worked to Condon’s advantage when the John Gleeson-ridden Pahlavi drifted wide at a crucial stage.
“I didn’t plan to be that far back but there was a lot of hustle and bustle at the start and it just kind of ended up that way,” Condon, whose brother Ritchie enjoyed Cheltenham Festival success on board Heaven Help Us in 2021, said.
“But when I was turning down the home bend, John Gleeson was in front of me and he went wide and that opened a gap for me and I had a lovely run up the inner and the horse was straight as a bow. It’s nice to get off the mark because I feel like I’ve been doing it for ages.”
City Of Cork benefitted from a patient ride from JJ Slevin to run out an impressive winner of the opening race, the Crottys Lake Maiden Hurdle.
Sporting the colours made famous by the Seán O’Driscoll-owned Home By The Lee, to whom he is closely related, City Of Cork sat off the searching pace set by market rivals World As One, Detroit Maverick, and Rond Point before making smooth headway on the run to the second last.
The Joseph O’Brien-trained 5-1 shot wasn’t foot-perfect at the final flight but he got to the other side and landed running, crossing the line four lengths clear of World As One with Detroit Maverick back in third.
Slevin said: “He ran a lovely race [over hurdles] the first day in Navan where he was a little bit keen and he had two goodish bumper runs after. He enjoyed the good ground today and all we wanted him to do was relax and jump and he did both.
“He fairly picked up at the back of the second last and he was rattling down to the last where he made a mistake at it but he was never going that fast in his life so he was entitled to do that.”
As the market predicted, the finish to the Irish Stallion Farms EBF Mares Maiden Hurdle was fought out by Wicked Pleasure and Red Acres Georgie, the pair pulling miles clear of the rest of the field.
Red Acres Georgie was sent off the 5-4 favourite but it was 15-8 shot Wicked Pleasure who prevailed in the hands of Mike O’Connor, deputising for the suspended Darragh O’Keeffe.
“I’m delighted with that,” winning trainer Henry de Bromhead said. “She had a couple of nice runs in bumpers and she’s really improved for hurdles. She was a bit babyish the first day in Roscommon [when fourth] but she really stepped forward today and looked much more professional.”
Paying tribute to the winning jockey, De Bromhead added: “It’s great for Mike, he’s a great man to have on our side. He’s a big team player so I’m delighted for him.”
Mother Shop bolted up in the Mahon Falls Novice Handicap Hurdle, the Shark Hanlon-trained 10-1 shot scoring by nine lengths under Harry Sexton.
“That’s great as it’s probably her last run this year because she likes nice ground,” Hanlon said. “We had thought about jumping her out handy but Harry came into the parade ring and said that everybody wanted to be handy, so we decided to ride her out the back. In fairness she likes passing horses too.”
La Note Verte was sent off the 1-10 favourite to win the Suir Blueway Mares Chase and the Willie Mullins-trained six-year-old won with the ease a 1-10 shot should, sauntering to an 11-length victory to complete a hat-trick of successes over fences after recent wins at Listowel and Tramore.
“She was entitled to do that,” winning jockey Paul Townend said. “She went to her left at plenty of the obstacles on her own but it was a matter of getting her around really. She’s been very well placed and she’s settled down a lot from where she was at the beginning of her career. She’s actually a joy to ride now and is running to a nice level.” Noel Meade remains one winner off 3,000 after Charlie Luciano, his sole runner on Thursday, finished fourth in the William Hill Challenge Series Handicap Chase, a race won by the Cormac Farrell-trained Kings Jet.
“It’s great, it’s taken him a while to get his act together but we’ll have a bit of fun with him hopefully,” Farrell of the 9-2 shot, who was ridden to victory by Ricky Doyle. “He’s finally getting the hang of things, we got his trip right, and the jumping is coming together. Hopefully he’ll progress from this.” Successful here over hurdles at the start of the month, 3-1 favourite Mount Shenshan followed up over bigger obstacles when winning the Clonmel Oil Chase Day November 5th Handicap Chase under Seán Cleary-Farrell.
“She’s a course specialist at this stage,” quipped winning trainer Tom Mullins. “It’s grand to get a good 7lb claimer to acclimatise with her. If she could settle a bit better in her races she might even be a bit better again.”
