Ith impressive Ballinrobe double
e didn’t know if she’d cted) soft ground as ear…She is in-foal to only has a month left be tempted to go for w.’ n a hurdle race on the onth ago. He was on 1) for Joseph O’Brien e here but had to give olute Grit (14/1) under
week about the rare en a qualified riders’ De Bromhead’s Stars eclared void because rocedures’ when the bstantial lead with a r saw another rival. s ruled that the official was at fault and not the riders, a very unusual outcome in racing. Acting steward Peter Matthews commented: ‘There are rules that starters are supposed to obey as well as the jockeys and that’s what we would expect and we didn’t think there was a fair start and declared it void’.
Well, the long-standing view that ‘the officials are always right even if they get it wrong’ was restored at an uncontested appeal on Thursday; the race result was reinstated to the record books and Stars over the Sea was declared the winner.
It seems there is a clause in the rules that the starter’s decision is always final. Why am I not surprised?!
On the flat in Ireland, Aidan O’Brien dominated Leopardstown on Thursday night, winning all four of the main races, with Ryan Moore riding Pentagon and Hap- pily to success in the Group 3 contests, Delano Roosevelt won for Wayne Lordan and son Donnacha was on Belgravia. To complete the Wexford dominance, Jim Bolger took second in two of those races and third in another.
Aidan was at it again on Saturday at a low-key Curragh card, the last meeting before Galway, combining with Donnacha to win the first three races with Ballet Shoes (7/4), Fleet Review (4/5) and Pavlenko (11/4).
Bolger denied them a four-timer in the last when his Ringside Support (wellbacked 5/2), beat World Stage (11/10) by a head under Kevin Manning.
All attention will focus on the seven-day Galway Festival this week, while the big flat guns will be trained on glorious Goodwood in England.