Last summer meet at Bettyville on Saturday next
NEWLY-HITCHED trainer Colm Murphy was celebrating at Kilbeggan on Friday evening as ‘Presenting Beara’ (10/3) got his jumping right to open his account over fences in the FRS Recruitment Beginners’ Chase.
Robbie Power rode prominently throughout and he found more when pressed in the final furlong.
‘It's good to get that out of the way and we'll see what the handicapper does with him now,’ Murphy told irishracing.com afterwards.
‘He gets three miles really well but he been over-jumping a few fences and jumping his way out of races.
‘He looked a certainty here if he reproduced his Fairyhouse run but it was a matter of reproducing that.
‘He made a bad mistake here last time which cost him the race and also made a bad mistake down in Wexford.’
David Casey also scored at Kilbeggan on board the Edward Cawley-trained ‘Drop Anchor’ (11/2).
The William Devereux and John Roche-owned ‘Discover Wexford’ (4/1) captured the maiden hurdle at Killarney, also on Friday evening. Trained by Willie Codd and ridden by Johnny Burke, the five-year-old accounted for ‘Hard Fought’ by two and a quarter lengths.
Jim Bolger and his long-standing stable jockey Kevin Manning shared two winners at Killarney, again on Friday. They won the rated race with ‘Fiscal Focus’ and followed up when newcomer ‘Altesse’ impressed in the fillies’ maiden. Aidan O'Brien's ‘Rule The Waves’ defied top-weight to win the nursery in great style under Seamus Heffernan, and Chris Hayes joined forces with trainer Denis Hogan to win with ‘Winter Lion’ in the one mile and six furlongs handicap. Galway Hurdle third-placed ‘The Game Changer’ scored a deserved success in the valuable Grade C handicap hurdle for trainer Charlie Swan and the aforementioned J.J. Burke.
Aidan O'Brien also had a good afternoon at The Curragh on Sunday. He won the Group 3 Kilfrush Stud Royal Whip Stakes with the Seamus Heffernan-ridden ‘Hall Of Mirrors’, while Joseph O'Brien was on board both ‘Gleneagles’, the winner of the Group 2 Galileo EBF Futurity Stakes, and ‘Leading Light’ who impressed in the Group 3 Palmerstown House Estate Irish St. Leger Trial Stakes. For good measure, the O'Briens also won the concluding maiden with ‘Adjusted’.
Jamie Spencer took the racing world by surprise last week by announcing his retirement from the saddle. Beginning next season, the 34-year-old Tipperary man is to take up a management position within Qatar Racing. Crowned Irish champion jockey in 2004, Spencer was champion in Britain in the following year and again in 2007. While Andrea Atzeni is to replace Spencer as first jockey to Qatar Racing next year, Kerry-born apprentice Oisín Murphy will be retained by the leading owners in a supporting role.
Finally, all roads lead to Bettyville this Saturday afternoon for the last meeting of the summer at the popular Wexford track. It has been a great few months of racing at Wexford and the Fiver Saturday deal continues, with the first race off at 2.35 p.m. For further information please see www.wexfordracing.ie
Racing takes place at the following venues: Ballinrobe, Tuesday, August 26 (first race 4.40 p.m.); Bellewstown, Wednesday, August 27 (first race 4.10 p.m.); Bellewstown, Thursday, August 28 (first race 4.15 p.m.); Tipperary, Thursday, August 28 (first race 5 p.m.); Down Royal, Friday, August 29 (first race 4.50 p.m.); Wexford, Saturday, August 30 (first race 2.35 p.m.); Cork, Sunday, August 31 (first race 2.20 p.m.), and The Curragh, Sunday, August 31 (first race 2.05 p.m.).