Halford-Whelan combo comes up trumps again
IT was all about Ronan Whelan and Michael Halford at Dundalk on Friday night.
Michael sent out three winners on the eight-race card, all of them ridden by Ronan, who also won on Uncharted (10/1) for Richard O’Brien in the second division of the Irishinjuredjockeys.com Maiden.
The Halford-Whelan hat-trick came in the shape of Bear Story (Evens fav), a well-backed and authoritative winner of the first division of the Irishinjuredjockeys. com maiden, Feminism (5/2), who was racing in first-time blinkers as she landed the Join Us On Instagram @dundalk_stadium Maiden, and Sendmylovetoyou (7/1) in the card’s most-valuable contest, the €21,000 Test Your Tipping Talents At PUNTERS.HOLLYWOODBETS. COM Every Dundalk Meeting Handicap.
Ronan’s four-timer meant that he ended the day on 21 winners at Dundalk in 2020, just one behind championship leader Declan McDonogh. The jockeys’ title at Dundalk looks to be going down to the wire.
Michael’s treble took him to 16 winners at Dundalk this year. It also moved him onto 271 winners – more than any other trainer - at Dundalk since the Polytrack surface was first used in 2007.
Three of his winners were for owner-breeders – John Connaughton (Bear Story), Michael Enright (Sendmylovetouou) and Sheikh Mohammed’s Godolphin operation (Feminism).
Richard O’Brien also completed a double when Irish Acclaim, who was racing for the first time since joining Richard’s team and for the first time since a gelding operation, caused a 50/1 surprise in winning the card’s finale, the Crowne Plaza Hotel Dundalk Handicap, in the hands of Scott McCullagh, whose father Niall rode the runner-up Miss Jabeam. That can’t have happened too often in racing.
The only winning favourites on the card came in the first two races, with Bear Story’s success being preceded by Irish Poseidon’s narrow win from 33/1 chance Dashing Diamond in the Crowne Plaza Leading Jockey & Trainer Championship Handicap.
Trained by Matthew Smith and ridden by Sam Ewing, Irish Poseidon (a well-backed 15/8 fav, having been available at 4/1 on Friday morning) has now won twice from just three runs in Ireland, all of them at Dundalk, since arriving from Germany in October.
Fresh from cheering on Some Neck to success under Ben Harvey in the Glenfarclas Cross-Country Chase at Cheltenham earlier in the day, trainer John McConnell had double cause for celebration when Kudbegood (7/1) – who is owned and was bred by Mrs V Maxwell - followed up his Dundalk win on November 25th by landing the Find Us On Facebook @dundalkstadium Handicap.
On both occasions the fiveyear-old gelding was ridden by Siobhan Rutledge, who is the only jockey to have won on him.
The card’s nursery, the Follow Us On Twitter @DundalkStadium Nursery Handicap, was won by the Fozzy Stack-trained Flying Rock (12/1), whose success gave Andy Slattery a third win at Dundalk’s last two meetings. Only three of his last 11 rides at Dundalk have failed to collect some prize-money.
He’ll have a chance to collect some more at Dundalk’s final two meetings of 2020, which are scheduled for this Wednesday and Friday. The provisional start times are 2.05 and 4.30pm respectively.