PHILIP QUINN ON AN ACTION PACKED DAY OF FESTIVE HORSERACING
Syndicate land emotional win with 50/1 shot
AROLLING maul of merriment erupted in the Leopardstown parade ring yesterday after Ellie Mac, a 50/1 outsider, scooted home in the opening Horse & Jockey Maiden Hurdle.
While first prize was a modest €8,624, the value of this victory was priceless. Understandably so. For the winner was owned by the Niccolai Schuster Horse Racing Club, named in honour of the former UCD student, a victim of the Berkeley balcony tragedy in June 2016.
The scenes were akin to Cheltenham in March as dozens of racegoers turned the winner’s enclosure a raucous sea of royal blue with a splash of red after Niccolai’s favourite football team, Bayern Munich.
Niccolai ‘loved his racing’ according to his uncle Milan, and his family and friends raised the roof even if some of them barely had a euro on the winner, which paid a staggering 78/1 on the Tote.
‘Niccolai would have loved to be in the middle of all this. It’s our first winner and it’s great that we can carry on his memory,’ said Milan Schuster.
In a sport increasingly dominated by heavy hitting owners with deep pockets, the Schuster syndicate warmed the hearts on a chill opening to the Leopardstown Festival.
The long shot was special too for seven-pound claimer Daniel Holden, who had never ridden a winner before, and makes do mostly riding out for trainer Henry De Bromhead.
Holden arrived late on the scene at the final flight as the market fancies, including 6/5 favourite Debuchet, seemed to have things between them.
But Ellie Mac eliminated them all with a fine leap and impressive turn of hoof to win by a couple of lengths and ignite scenes of exuberance among the youthful owners.
Even De Bromhead got swept up in the emotion of it all. ‘It’s great to be part of this,’ he beamed. The winning trainer completed a quick-fire double half an hour later when Paloma Blue availed of the early exit of the favourite Quick Grabim to scoop the Thorntons Recycling Maiden Hurdle.
Davy Russell was in the plate as the 4/1 shot, in the familiar striped colours of Leopardstown committee member Chris Jones, won snugly by two lengths.
De Bromhead chalked up a treble top when Tisamystery solved the puzzle of the 18-runner ‘Bet Through The Racing Post App’ handicap chase.
For the second time on the card, De Bromhead was responsible for giving a jockey a career leg-up as Liam Quinlan (18) booted home the first racecourse winner of his career.
De Bromhead has long been firmly established in the front rank of Irish trainers, having made the breakthrough from the middle order on the back of such stars as Sizing Europe.
Tipped by many to jump into the upper echelons is Gavin Cromwell, who is increasingly spending more time on training duties than his day job as a farrier.
Cromwell has a potential corker on his hands in the JP McManus-owned Espoir D’allen, who chalked up a fourth win from four racecourse runs in the grade two Knight Frank Juvenile Hurdle.
A messy race turned into a sprint from the final flight and Espoir D’allen, with Mark Walsh in the saddle, had sufficient turn of foot to ward off the eye-catching newcomer Farclas, under Jack Kennedy.
The 1/2 shot is now 10/1 for the Triumph Hurdle, a race won by McManus two years ago with Ivanovich Gorbatov. As a Cheltenham stepping stone, there is the Spring Juvenile Hurdle at the Dublin Festival to come in February.
That mid-season jump bonanza includes seven Grade One races over the weekend and Willie Mullins has already pencilled in Footpad for a crack at the Irish ‘Arkle’ before heading for the Festival.
Footpad’s slick jumping gave him an edge over his opponents in the Racing Post Novice Chase as he gained ground in the air at every fence.
By the time he winged the last, the game was up and Paul Townend didn’t let the handbrake completely down as the 4/6 favourite scooted home 11 lengths clear of Any Second Now.
‘It’s great to get one on the board. Nothing was going right for us today between here and Limerick where Al Boum Photo fell when looking likely to win,’ said Mullins. Therein lay the glory of racing. For all the meticulous preparations, the booking of top jockeys, the weight of wagers, it remains gloriously unpredictable.
And on this chill day, it was the exploits of Ellie Mac who warmed even the flintiest of hearts.