Rookie hopes first win is just Tipp of the iceberg
A FIRST success, a trainer double, a rare feat and a beautifully-bred filly winning again were among the stories making the headlines at Dundalk Stadium on Friday.
The first win came for 16-yearold Ben Coen on the Keith Clarketrained Timia (7/2) on what was just his tenth ride, although he has had 40 winners on the pony-racing circuit.
Timia had impressed when winning at Dundalk the previous Friday, after which the handicapper raised her eleven pounds in the ratings. Keith decided to book Ben last week as he was able to take ten pounds off the filly’s back.
‘He has loads of confidence,’ said Keith, ‘is very cool and quiet and is a good rider.’ Ben, who is from Fethard in County Tipperary, is apprenticed to his uncle, Andy Slattery.
The trainer double came in the first two races, with David Marnane landing the five-furlong handicap with Alfredo Arcano (3/1), ridden by Chris Hayes, who won by a nose from Aggression, who had won this race last year, and the Floodlit Friday Nights Rated Race with Settle For Bay (11/4f), who was a cosy two-length winner under Donagh O’Connor.
The winner certainly caught the eye in the paddock and the winning trainer said afterwards: ‘He’s a very nice horse. He’s huge and doesn’t have a lot of experience, but is certainly going the right way.
‘I’m delighted for (owners) Mossy Casey and Denis McGettigan. He’ll be a nice horse next summer but could come back here (before then).’
The rare feat was achieved when Andy Oliver saddled the first three home in the 12-furlong maiden with Play It Cool (10/1, Leigh Roche), beating Financial Conduct (3/1fav, Gary Carroll) and The Phantom Punch (7/1, Chris Hayes).
‘They are three nice horses,’ said Andy, ‘The winner is wellbred, the second is a lovely big scopey horse and the third is a nice horse that was beaten by greenness.’ The second and third could well return to Dundalk before the year is out to try and win a maiden at the track.
Play It Cool had finished third behind Cool Skies at Dundalk on November 8th when making his racecourse debut. That filly, a half-sister to the 2005 Epsom Derby winner Motivator, had won the previous race on Friday evening’s card, the €25,000 Dundalk Stadium Light Up Your Night Handicap.
Racing in the colours of the legendary JP McManus, Cool Skies (4/1), who is with champion trainer Aidan O’Brien, won with something in hand under Wayne Lordan, who said afterwards:
‘She’s progressing with each run and could be a nice filly. She travelled well and kept going well. She has a fantastic pedigree so every win is important.’
The card’s Irish Stallion Farms European Breeders Fund Maiden went the way of Patrick Prendergast’s War Hero (9/2), a son of Dundalk Group 3 winner Declaration Of War, who battled well to just deny the 2/1 favourite Bella Signora, a victory that gave jockey Ronan Whelan a third-successive win in the seven-furlong contest.
Having been just denied in the Ash Brothers Building Contractors Handicap when his mount Complicit was caught close home by Eddie Lynam’s Masalai (4/1), who was ridden by Conor Hoban, Denis Linehan gained a win on the night when Mandarin Monarch landed the card’s finale, the Crowne Plaza Leading Jockey & Trainer Handicap, for Andrew McNamara.
The winning trainer, who is at the horse sales in Cheltenham, said afterwards: ‘A group of friends claimed him here last year; they are a good bunch of lads and they’ll get a big kick out of this.’
He added: ‘We’ve moved to a lovely new yard, with excellent facilities and that’s out first winner from there. Hopefully there will be many more to come.’
Dundalk claimers have become quite a rich source of winners over the last year or so and there will be one to open the card at the next meeting, which is scheduled for Friday November 24th. AS the temperature drops and rain falls the country’s cyclocross season is in full swing, with a number of leagues going on across the country, and Cuchulainn were battling in two provincial leagues over the weekend and claimed podium places both sides of the border.
On Sunday Alan Bingham was racing in Larne in round seven of the Ulster Cyclocross League, an eight-lap race that proved a muddy, cold and windy affair.
Bingham has been consistently getting top-10 results all season, but this was his breakout performance as he claimed third place, only 20 seconds behind the runner-up.
His result was built on a rapid first lap that saw him take the lead early in the race. As the laps wore on he was involved in a three-way battle with league leader and Irish international racer Glen Kinning and Graham Boyd. Eventually the younger, more experienced riders manged to get past Bingham, who had the added bonus of claiming the first vet’s prize.
David Duffy and Mark Byrne were also in the race and posted solid mid-pack finishes.
Meanwhile, in the Navan Cyclocross League Cuchulainn had a large turnout, with Ray Fedigan, Karl Dolan, Gerry Kenny, Aaron McCann, Stuart Holden and Paul Dagg all involved.
In the B race Aaron McCann had a storming race and was leading before disaster struck in the form of a puncture. A bike change did get him back in the running and he managed to battle his way up to third position before running out of road. Behind him, Paul Dagg also posted a top-10 finish in seventh place.
In the A Race Ray O’Shaughnessey had a top-10 finish, with PJ Hynes and Johnny McCabe not far behind.
The Bike Station CycloCross league has reached its final two rounds and the league leader, junior rider Lee Harvey of Kinning Cycles, looks all but certain to take the title. He has a 12-point lead over Cuchulainn’s Johnny McCabe and if McCabe was to win both remaining rounds and Harvey pick up no points it would end in a draw.
The league has been a huge success and has been instrumental in Cuchulainn’s riders developing into a strong force on the off-road scene.
The track is also being used to develop the next phase of racers, with the underage riders taking to the course every Monday night. Close to 30 children have been honing their skills under the watchful eyes of the coaches and the floodlights.