Harding tastes success in Clonmel
The likes of Monty’s Pass, Conna Castle and Whinstone Boy have been headline makers for Jimmy Mangan in the not too distant past and the Conna trainer was back in the spotlight as the JP McManus-owned Spillane’s Tower took the Grade 3 SkyBet Novice Chase at Punchestown on Sunday. Noras Fancy last gave Mangan a graded success when scoring at Thurles almost exactly 10 years ago and Spillane’s Tower, a 7/1 chance in the hands of Mark Walsh, impressed when coming from a little off the pace to brush aside Willie Mullins’ 2/5 favourite by two lengths, with the Con O’Keeffe-trained Silent Approach a further three lengths back in third place.
Owned by Diarmuid McHugh and John Dwan, the Sam Curling-trained Idol won the two and a half-mile mares’ handicap hurdle. A 100/30 chance in the hands of Phillip Enright, she led before the final hurdle to beat the Eoin Doyletrained Ardera Ru by a length and three-parts.
Paul Townend reached the 75-winner mark for the season and ended the day 14 winners behind Jack Kennedy in the jockeys’ championship, as he took the two-mile maiden hurdle on the Mullins-trained Lisnagar Fortune, which is owned and bred by Denis Fitzgerald. The 10/11 favourite made all the running and only had to be pushed out to beat Henry de Bromhead’s 100/30 chance Jasko Des Dames by six and a half lengths.
Willie Mullins landed his second treble of the week when dominating at Fairyhouse on Saturday. Paul Townend rode each of the champion trainer’s winners and the pair were quickly into their stride as the Kenny Alexander-owned Miss Manzor impressed in winning the four-year-old hurdle. A well-supported 6/4 favourite, she made all the running and edged clear between the final two hurdles to beat her own stable companion Karia Des Blaises, a 7/2 chance, by two and a quarter lengths.
Uncle Phil scored an all-theway success of his own in the featured SBK Dan & Joan Moore Memorial Handicap Chase. Owned by Marie Donnelly, the 11/2 shot went clear from the final fence to beat the John Ryan-trained Lucid Dreams by three and three-parts of a length, an impressive success on his handicap chase debut.
Yet another set of ultra-familiar colours was carried to victory as Hunters Yarn completed the Mullins/Townend treble in the twomile one-furlong beginners’ chase. The 8/15 favourite, owned by Simon Munir and Isaac Souede, survived a mistake at the second-last fence, but he quickly recovered and came home a ten-length winner from Gavin Cromwell’s Path D’Oroux.
Harry Swan landed another bumper success for Gordon Elliott, as the highly-touted Romeo Coolio made a winning debut at Fairyhouse. A big drifter in the betting, he was sent off at odds of even-money favourite and led early in the straight before being ridden out to beat the Pat Fahy-trained Sporting Glory by a length and a quarter. The winner, owned by the KTDA Syndicate, is the clear second favourite of the bumper at the Cheltenham Festival.
Nathan Crosse rode winners for trainers Joseph O'Brien and John McConnell as he took the riding honours with a double at Dundalk on Friday evening. The Cahir jockey’s recently retired brother, Shane, enjoyed great success when riding for O'Brien and Nathan notched up his first winner for the Piltown maestro, as 6/5 favourite Beautiful Dawn scored an easy success in the eight-furlong fillies’ maiden. She had plenty in hand when getting the better of the Johnny Murtaghtrained Timana by a length and quarter.
It was tighter as Crosse recorded his second winner on the John McConnell-trained Gatsby Cap in the second division of the eight-furlong handicap. The 28/1 chance led inside the final furlong and held off the challenge of the Keith Clarketrained Tara Power to win by half a length.
Killian Leonard was among the winners where he landed the seven-furlong handicap on the Pat Murphy-trained Free Solo. The 5/1
chance battled well inside the final furlong to hold of Ado McGuinness’ 7/2 joint-favourite Volatile Analyst by a head in the colours of owner Margaret Ahern.
NAAS
Willie Mullins landed a 1-2-3 in the rearranged Grade 1 Lawlor’s Of Naas Novice Hurdle at Naas on Friday with the Daryl Jacob-ridden Readin Tommy Wrong taking the major honours as the outsider of the field at odds of 16/1. Now successful in all four racecourse starts, the Simon Munir and Isaac Souede-owned six-year-old got up in the dying strides to pip the Paul Townend-ridden Ile Atlantique, in the Tony Bloom colours, by a neck, with the Slaneyville Syndicate-owned Lecky Watson seven and a half lengths away in third place.
The champion trainer followed up with another winner as 2/9 favourite Tullyhill took the twomile maiden hurdle in good style. With Paul Townend in the saddle, the Cheveley Park Stud-owned sixyear-old pulled clear to beat Gordon Elliott’s Lightkeeper by seven lengths.
Rachael Blackmore and Henry de Bromhead landed a second win over fences with their 2021 Cheltenham Festival Triumph Hurdle scorer Quilixios in the two-mile novice chase. The Cheveley Park Stud-owned seven-year-old was a winner on his chasing debut at Limerick in October and he firmly put a below par effort at Punchestown the following month behind him when racing to a comfortable two and a quarter-length success over the Gordon Elliott-trained Sa Fureur at odds of 5/1.
CLONMEL
Jockeys Paul Townend and Brian Hayes helped out as Willie Mullins reeled off a quick hattrick of winners when landing three races in-a-row at Clonmel on Thursday last. Townend rode two of the trainers winners and they were off the mark when 2/5 favourite Quai De Bourbon got the better of his Michael O'Sullivan-ridden stable companion, Westport Cove, by half a length to take the two-mile conditions’ hurdle.
There was another 1-2 for the stable as Hayes won the mares’ maiden hurdle over the same distance on 4/1 shot Implicit, which easily beat the Townend-ridden 4/6 favourite Enola by four lengths.
Townend then bounced back to land the two-mile maiden hurdle on the Edward Ware-owned Jimmy Du Seuil. A 2/9 favourite, he ran out the widest-margin winner of the afternoon when beating Tim Doyle’s Answering by nine lengths, despite a mistake at the final hurdle.
Edward O’Grady was also among the winners where Always Enchanting scored an easy success in the two-mile Lisronagh Handicap Hurdle. Owned and bred by Kay Russell, the Mark McDonagh-ridden seven-year-old led before the second-last hurdle and went clear before the last to beat Philip Rothwell’s Robindevidaster by six lengths at odds of 9/2.
Castletownroche trainer, Marie Harding, landed the concluding two and a half-mile handicap hurdle with the very well supported Lissen To The Lady. Owned and ridden by amateur rider Joanna Walton, the 5/1 chance led after the final hurdle and pulled clear to score by three and a half lengths from the Louis Archdeacon-trained Carlas Big Jim. It was a first winner for Harding since the Adrian Heskin-ridden Icantsay scored at Cork in July, 2016, while Walton was back in the winners’ enclosure for the first time since she landed a handicap hurdle at Punchestown in June of last year.
UPCOMING FIXTURES
Fairyhouse – Thursday, January 18 (first race 12.30pm); Dundalk – Friday, January 19 (first race 4.30pm); Navan – Saturday, January 20 (first race 12.45pm); Thurles – Sunday, January 21 (first race 12.30pm).