ROUND-UP J.J. still to the fore
HORSE RACING Slevin is enjoying his purple patch
J.J. SLEVIN, fresh from his surprise Cheltenham success on the closing Friday aboard Gordon Elliott’s Champagne Classic, has followed up with three wins since, and trainer Liz Doyle also had three winners during the week.
Slevin, from Kiltrea, Caim, kept it up at Limerick the day after his big win when well clear on twelve-yearold veteran Tidy Zag for Nenagh trainer, Ray Hackett, the horse’s first win for three years.
At Clonmel on Tuesday, he romped to victory on Flynsini (7/1) in a handicap chase for owner Eamonn Sinnott, giving trainer Pat Cloke from Bree his first track winner for two years. It was a deserved success as Flynsini had run very well to be second at Thurles on his previous outing. There might be another win in him.
At Thurles on Saturday, Doyle and Slevin combined to win the opening maiden hurdle with La Belle Vida (100/30) by a comfortable six lengths for the young jockey’s 16th of the season.
Liz Doyle had opened her account for the week when taking the ladies’ pro-am bumper at Cork on Thursday with Catwalk King (13/2), ridden by the experienced Liz Lawlor.
She struck again on Sunday at Downpatrick in the Guinness Rated hurdle with Derulo (11/4); Seán Flanagan survived a fairly bad blunder to steer him home by six lengths. She commented: ‘Seán said he was lucky to stand up…We’ll look at something maybe for him in Punchestown with nice ground’.
Doyle is having a great season, has had three winners from her last four runners and is in the top ten on the trainers’ table.
Flanagan came very close to a really good day as he was pipped by a short head in the opening maiden hurdle on Noel Meade’s Fly Rory (6/4), and then went down by just a head in the featured €25,000 chase on Meade’s Tulsa Jack (10/1).
He had pulled off a 25/1 shock in the Limerick opener the previous weekend on the tiny Mary Frances for Martin Hassett, and Jamie Codd, fresh from two more Cheltenham wins, drove from point-to-point duty at Athlone for the closing bumper at Navan last Sunday week where he romped home on Minellafordollars for Gordon Elliott.
In Ffos Las in Wales on Sunday week, there were post-Cheltenham wins for Jonathan Moore and Tom O’Brien. Moore scored for boss, Rebecca Curtis, on How About It (2/1), and O’Brien won on Tudors Treasure (11/4f) for Robert Stephens.
O’Brien was involved in a bizarre incident in a chase at Taunton on Monday - he jumped the last well clear on Leg Lock Luke (2/1f) for Colin Tizzard, but the horse shied as they crossed a pathway one hundred yards from the finish and his violent swerve unshipped the jockey, giving him no chance.
O’Brien had better luck with a nice 41/1 double at Exeter on Tuesday, on Bertie Boru (9/2) for Philip Hobbs and Zerachiel (13/2) for Ian Williams. He kept things ticking over with a first race success at the featured Newbury meeting on Saturday aboard Bodega (7/1), also for Williams.
Daryl Jacob had a good Cheltenham with three seconds and two thirds, but was denied an elusive winner. He did make it to the winner’s enclosure at Ludlow on Thursday on board odds-on favourite Secret Door for Harry Fry, with Tom O’Brien second on Midtech Valentine (3/1).
He also scored at Newbury on Friday when overcoming some trouble in running to win on Beer Goggles (10/1) in a handicap hurdle, and he kept up the good work with a double at Stratford on Saturday on Talent to Amuse for Emma Lavelle and Like the Sound (4/1) for Charlie Mann.
Pat McDonald (Taghmon) has been having a quietish time lately on the all-weather but had a nice winner with his only ride at Wolverhampton, on Ladofash (9/1) for Karl Burke. He was beaten a head and a short head in a driving finish to his only ride at Wolverhampton on Saturday, on Van Gerwen.
Pat Dobbs from Enniscorthy got on the board at the multi-million euro Dubai World Cup card at Meydan on Saturday, scoring in the opening Godolphin Mile which had a prize fund of almost €1 million aboard 20/1 shot, Second Summer, trained by Doug Watson.
Dobbs has done very well in his season out in the Gulf States and was the leading jockey at Meydan track with 15 winners, beating many of the world’s top riders, and he was joint second on 39 winners for the season at the various courses in the United Arab Emirates.