Sean and JJ in great form
THE Irish jumps season ends next Saturday on the final day of the Punchestown Festival, which will feature 11 grade A races and a final outing for many of the year’s top horses. Sean Flanagan and JJ Slevin are in great form going into the season finale with Slevin picking up a €100,000 pot at Fairyhouse on Tuesday.
This was in the Grade A handicap hurdle on Ivanovich Gorbatov (11/1) for Joseph O’Brien and JP McManus.
This horse won the Triumph Hurdle at the Cheltenham Festival in 2016, and had gone over three years and 24 runs before Slevin finally found the key to him.
O’Brien was full of praise for his jockey – ‘JJ gave him a fantastic ride; he rides him at home and knows him well. We get on very well – he knows how we like the horses ridden and he gets the job done.’
Barry O’Neill is heading for his third successive point to point jockeys title but he also made a real impact at the Fairyhouse Grand National meeting with wins in successive days.
On Monday he took the concluding bumper for Willie Mullins, making all on Golden Spread (5/1), beating Patrick Mullins into second on his dad’s Mt. Leinster (3/1).
He followed up on Tuesday in the €15k Joseph O’Reilly Hunter Chase, scoring comfortably on Gordon Elliott’s Ucello Conti (7/2f).
This one is usually ridden by Jamie Codd who was on him at both Cheltenham and Aintree, but O’Neill has now stood in for him three times and has won all three.
There was victory in the Hunters’ Chase at Cork on Monday for Casey Jem (9/2), trained in Bunclody by Tony Black for the Casey brothers, big supporters of Wexford racing, and ridden by Luke Murphy, from Inch. Costalotmore (5/1), trained by Brian Jordan (Rathangan) and ridden by Mark Scallan (Cleariestown) was beaten less than a length in a point to point bumper.
Flanagan and Slevin fought out the first at Kilbeggan on Friday evening with Flanagan prevailing by half a length on Noel Meade’s Trappist Monk (8/1) from Touch of Oscar (3/1).
Sean Doyle, of the famous Monbeg horsey family, scored his first win of the track season with Gracemount (5/2) romping home under Harley Dunne in the mares’ beginners chase, after main challenger, Payngo for Mags Mullins, fell at the last. ‘She’ll keep going and I’m looking for a wet summer!’ was Doyle’s comment.
Pat Cloke’s (Bree) Bellgrove (11/2) ran well to take second in the handicap chase under JJ Slevin.
Flanagan had a double at Wexford on Saturday and Slevin also had a winner (See Wexford Races Report).
Slevin and O’Brien kept up the good work at Sligo on Sunday with Little Light (11/8f) in a maiden hurdle and there was a Wexford 1-2-3 in the 5.00 with Sean Flanagan winning on Shantou Flyer (8/1) from Jonathan Moore on Bronson in Blue (12/1) and Ashjan (11/1) under Sean O’Keeffe for Liz Doyle. Jamie Codd won the bumper on Glens Finale (5/6f) for Gordon Elliott, beating Patrick Mullins by a neck.
On the flat, Aidan O’ Brien sent one horse across to Britain this week, to contest the £50k Derby Trial at Epsom on Wednesday, and duly won with Cape of Good Hope under Ryan Moore at a generous 4/1.
He and Moore picked up the €60k Salsabil Stakes at Navan on Sunday with Pink Dogwood, and they also won with Blenheim Palace.