Racing in Wexford
Season ends with two-day meeting
RACING WILL sign off at the Wexford Bettyville track with the biggest meeting of the year over the Wexford Festival Bank Holiday weekend.
The two-day fixture on Sunday and Monday (October 28 and 29) will have over €200,000 in prize money on offer.
Casey Concrete, Gorey and New Ross, sponsor six of the seven races on Sunday, including the €25,000 Casey Precast chase.
The Casey brothers have been enthusiastic supporters of racing for many years and have enjoyed some good success on the track. This is reflected in the title of the 3.10 p.m. race – The Casey Bros Supporting Their Local Racecourse Beginners Chase.
Monday’s card features the only listed race of the year at Wexford, the €28,000 MW Hickey Memorial Chase over almost three miles, honouring the late Michael Hickey of Garryrichard, Foulksmills, a founder of one of Wexford’s top equine dynasties.
The final race of the year is in memory of another great racing man, the late Jim Whitty of Whitford House, and the opener is honouring one of Wexford’s greatest hurling legends, the late Nick O’Donnell, dubbed ‘The Prince of Full Backs’ in the 1950s and ‘60s.
Other sponsors include Kehoe Farming from Foulksmills and IRIS, providers of racing footage in Ireland. Punters should be aware of the early start as the clocks will go back on Saturday night; the first race is at 12.50 p.m. each day.
Given decent weather, this should be two days of great racing to end the Wexford season until St. Patrick’s Day next year.
In other news, Seán Flanagan broke his leg at Tramore on August 19 and was back there on Thursday to record his first win since his return from injury, aboard Cusp of Carabelli (7/1) for Donie O’Brien.
And he made it two for the week at Cork on Sunday aboard He’s No Molly (7/4), getting up a nose in a thrilling finish for Noel Meade.
It was good to see J.J. Slevin returning after injury with a spin on the Richie Rath-trained Moylisha Tim at Cork; he was down the field but got around safely.
At the Tramore meeting, trainer Tony Black from Bunclody had his second win in a fortnight with Teqany (11/4), ridden by Danny Mullins.
He won by a nose at Gowran last time but romped in by 18 lengths here.
The previous day there was a Wexford double at Punchestown – Jamie Codd eased home on Sizing Rome (7/2) for Jim Dreaper in a novice chase, while Liz Doyle kept up her good strike rate with Neil Tector’s Chapmanshype (10/1) scoring well under Richie Deegan in the bumper.
In Britain, Daryl Jacob had a welcome if surprising winner at Huntingdon with Hoke Colburn (14/1), while Tom O’Brien won the next day at Uttoxeter with well-fancied favourite, Idilico (11/8) for Ian Williams. O’Brien had a big win at Market Rasen on Saturday in a €50,000 chase on Royal Vintage (4/1).
On the flat, Aidan O’Brien did get his hands on one of the big prizes at Ascot’s Champions Day on Saturday, with Magical (4/1) lowering the colours of John Gosden’s Lah Ti Dar (1/1f) in the £600k Qipco Group 1 fillies’ and mares’ champion stakes, with a gutsy run under Ryan Moore.
It was Gosden’s only setback as he took three of the major races with Stradivarius, Roaring Lion and Cracksman, and he undoubtedly had the strongest hand in Britain this year.
O’Brien’s outsider, I Can Fly (33/1), took second in the million pound-plus Queen Elizabeth 11 Stakes, while others such as Sir Erec, Flag of Honour and Capri ran well.
On Saturday morning Aidan’s Cliffs of Moher finished well to be third in the €3.5m Caulfield Cup in Melbourne, and he may now bid for the Melbourne Cup on November 6, in which Aidan was beaten by son, Joseph, last year.
Aidan still looked after business at home and picked up the €60k feature, the Group 3 Killavullan Stakes, at Leopardstown on Saturday with Coral Beach (16/1) under Michael Hussey, beating Jim Bolger’s Guaranteed (12/1) by a length.
Bolger was second in the two other big races on the card too, with Flight Risk (8/1) in the €47k Trigo Stakes and Dream of Words (16/1) in the €25k Tote Handicap.
Bolger and O’Brien both had good-priced winners at Gowran Park on Monday, with Leagan Gaeilge, a 14/1 surprise for Bolger, and Aircraft Carrier (11/1) getting home by a short head for Ballydoyle.
At Naas on Sunday, O’Brien had a treble with San Andreas (11/10) leading in a 1-2-3 in the opener under son, Donnacha; Sarrocchi (7/1) and Curly (5/1) both won €58k listed Stakes, ridden by Seamie Heffernan.
In Britain it was good to see P.J. McDonald (Taghmon) back in action at Newcastle on Wednesday, where he had damaged both legs in a freak parade ring fall some six weeks earlier.
He got back in the groove at Wolverhampton on Thursday aboard Mark Johnston’s Axel Jacklin (7/1), and won again at Newcastle on Friday on Nick Vedder (5/2).