Byrne makes mark
Apprentice rides a winner for Bolger
THERE WAS some good racing at The Curragh over the weekend with a Group 2 and three Group 3 races on the cards and Jim Bolger made the running on Saturday with a good double, including a fine ride by 19 years old Piercestown apprentice, Willie Byrne.
There were 24 runners in the Treacy Group Apprentice race over a mile and Byrne chose to chart a lone course down the far rail on Make Me Sway (14/1) and he seemed to have lots to do a couple of furlongs out.
But Byrne conjured a fine late run out of the filly on handicap debut and they flew home to grab Athlumney Hall (14/1) in the final hundred yards to win a little cosily, with another of Bolger’s, Mother Vincent (20/1), in third.
This was the Piercestown man’s seventh track winner and he certainly advertised his talents.
Kevin Manning was on board Bopedro (5/1) in the next, another one mile handicap, as Bolger completed a 90/1 double, beating Gary Carroll on Karawaan (10/1).
Aidan O’Brien had to be content with second and third in the Group 3 Loughbrown Stakes as Andy Slattery made his first ride in a Group race a winning one on Dermot Weld’s Katasa (11/8).
He overhauled O’Brien’s Cypress Creek (7/1) and Capri (5/4f).
On Sunday, Aidan maintained his remarkable dominance of the Beresford Stakes, the last twoyear-old Group 2 of the season which has often thrown up high quality winners.
His Innisfree (4/6f) needed a stern ride from his son, Donnacha, to get up by a neck close home against Dermot Weld’s Shekhem (11/4). This was Aidan’s ninth successive win in the race, and his 19th in all.
Aidan’s main focus this week was on the three-day Newmarket meeting and he had limited success with a big team.
On Thursday he and Ryan Moore scored in the Group 3 Tattersalls Stakes with their only runner of the day, Wichita (10/11), completing a two-country double when Mythical (9/4) won at Gowran 90 minutes earlier.
He repeated the feat next day with New World Tapestry (1/1) and Moore winning a modest race at Newmarket while they were second with Simply Beautiful (12/1) in the Group 3 Muhaarar Stakes.
The O’Brien double came up in the more humble surroundings of Dundalk with Blenheim Palace (5/1) prevailing by a head.
Aidan sent nine to Newmarket for a big card on Saturday but had just a single winner, Royal Dornoch the 16/1 outsider of his trio, obliging in the £125,000 Group 2 Royal Lodge Stakes under Wayne Lordan. Ballydoyle made little enough impact in the two big money Group 1 races.
In Britain, PJ McDonald maintained a busy schedule and a decent strike rate with four winners during the week from 14 rides.
He had a double at Newcastle on Wednesday with Anastarsia (3/1) and Corked (14/1), beating a 14-strong field.
On Thursday he had winners at two venues, on Top Rank (10/11) at Newmarket and later on With Caution (7/2) at Chelmsford.
The Taghmon man has broken the 100-winner mark for the third calendar year in a row, with 109 so far and total earnings of £1.7 million and he is in fourth place in the Racing Post table.
He has enough time left in the year to challenge his record total of 128 in 2017.