Upton man Wayne Lordan enjoyed listed success aboard Easter Lilly at Naas on Wednesday last.
Under the stewardship of Aidan O’Brien at his famous Ballydoyle yard, Easter Lilly hit the front just 100 yards from the line and ran out a one-length winner.
Followers of Chris Hayes enjoyed a healthy return at Tipperary on Thursday night as he struck aboard Great Grey in the Stallion Farms EBF Median Auction Maiden. Hayes produced his mount to challenge insider the final furlong – eventually winning by one and a half-length at 25/1.
THE CURRAGH
Royal Ascot winning rider Colm O’Donoghue rode two winners at the Curragh over the weekend as I’m So Fancy and Klute obliged for trainer Jessica Harrington on Saturday and Sunday respectively. Klute all but ensured a profitable day for those lucky enough to have backed him as the two-year-old claimed the day-three curtain raiser at odds of 20/1.
It was a weekend to remember for the O’Brien family as Aidan O’Brien saddled no fewer than nine winners at the Curragh over the weekend. In addition to that, Aidan’s son’s Joseph and Donnacha teamed up to win the weekend’s blue ribbon race – the Dubai Duty Free Irish Derby.
Latrobe gave both men a first success in the race when running out the 14/1 winner and led home an unprecedented 1-2-3-4-5 for the O’Brien clan, with O’Brien senior being responsible for those placed second down to fifth.
Aidan O’Brien may not have been able to add to his 12 previous derby wins bit it wasn’t all doom and gloom for the Ballydoyle supremo, who saddled no fewer than nine winners over three days at the Kildare venue.
O’Brien senior ended day one with a treble to his name as the booking of jockey Ryan Moore again paid dividends. The precedence was set from flag fall on Friday on Friday as Peach Tree claimed the €17,000 Irish Stallion Farms EBF Fillies Maiden.
Run over seven furlongs, Moore saw off the challenge of Colin Keane and Queen Medb by half a length.
The same connections were in the winner’s enclosure after the second race following Somerset Maugham’s success in the one-mile contest. Favourite backers were made to sweat however as the 5/2 shot had just a nose to spare as the crossed the line.
The O’Brien/Moore treble was completed in the penultimate race of the evening when Lucius Tiberius saw off the challenge of Active Approach and Kevin Manning by two and a half lengths in the Paddy Power Inside App Handicap.
While the headlines on day two may have gone the way of Derby winning brothers Joseph and Donnacha, their father still managed to chalk up a treble of his own on Saturday. The treble was once again delivered by Ryan Moore and was set in motion with Battle Of Jericho in the Tote Rockingham Handicap. The 7/1 claimed the five furlong contest by a short head.
Even money favourite Fleet Review made it a quick-fire double in the next as the three-year-old proved too strong for his eight rivals in the Listed Dubai Duty Free Jumeirah Creekside Dash Stakes where he beat his stable companion Intelligence Cross by a nose.
The honour of completing the day two hat-trick feel to Van Beethoven in the Group 2 GAIN Railway Stakes. The two-year-old was the well backed 9/10 favourite as they left the starting stalls and eventually had half a length to spare.
A hat-trick of Aidan O’Brien trebles over the three days looked like a distinct possibility by the conclusion of the fourth race on Sunday.
By then, So Perfect and Yucatan had already obliged in the hands of Ryan Moore to claim the Grangecon Stud Stakes and the Finlay Volvo International Stakes respectively.
The day three treble was rubber stamped when Flag Of Honour led home an AP O’Brien 1-2 in the Comer Group International Curragh Cup.
Joseph O’Brien capped another weekend to remember in his own right when he saddled Band of Outlaws to victory in the Lyndsey & Elanor Comer Trust Handicap at a price of 7/1. The three-year-old ran out a half-length winner of the one-mile contest.
Meanwhile, Ballingarry jockey Billy Lee along with Ballingarry-based trainer Richard O’Brien, took the spoils in the concluding race at the Curragh on Sunday. Maths Prize ran out a most convincing six-length winner of the Troytown Grey Abbey Equine Hospital Handicap – a fourth career success for the four-year-old O’Brien inmate, which is owned by Frank Lynch and Michael Hartnett.
It was O’Brien’s tenth winner of the current campaign and a 28th success for Lee, who lies fifth in the jockeys’ championship, two winners behind fourth-placed Hayes.
UPCOMING FIXTURES
Bellewstown – Thursday, July 5 (first race 5.30); Tipperary – Thursday, July 5 (first race 5.50); Bellewstown – Friday, July 6 (first race 5.00); Wexford – Friday, July 6 (first race 5.20); Bellewstown – Saturday, July 7 (first race 5.15); Naas – Saturday, July 7 (first race 2.15); Fairyhouse – Sunday, July 8 (first race 1.50); Limerick – Sunday, July 8 (first race 2.05).
