A ROUND up of all things Horse Racing coming from Limerick and Clare.
Chris Hayes and Curragh trainer Darren Bunyan won the night’s finale at Dundalk on Friday with strong 5/2 favourite Elzaam Blue. Owned by Siobhan Ni Cheallaigh, the four-year-old added to last month’s debut maiden success when scoring by three-parts of a length. Bunyan commented,
“He did that well again. The main worry we had coming up with him, we don’t doubt his ability, but it was lack of experience against good, seasoned handicappers as that’s always going to put you on the back foot straight away. We had seen a huge improvement in him since the last day and he’s going to improve a tonne again from this tonight.”
Athea-based Eoin McCarthy landed the two-mile handicap hurdle at Gowran Park on Saturday with the John Costello-owned Missiee. Gary Noonan was in the saddle as the 12/1 chance battled well from the final flight to beat the Liz Doyle-trained Huit Reflets by half a length. The winning rider said,
“She loves that ground and I couldn’t be happier with her. She’s an honest and tough mare, she enjoyed the way it turned into a bit of a slog and a battle.”
Donie McInerney took the opening four-year-old winners’ hurdle at Limerick on Sunday on the Paul Fahey-trained Man O Work which is owned and bred by Charles O’Reilly. A 15/8 shot, he readily got the better of the Willie Mullins-trained 8/13 favourite Instit by two and a quarter lengths. Fahey said,
“It was a good performance and I don’t know where we’re going with him. That was the first time he got a smack behind the saddle and he responded. He is a pretty decent little horse but I didn’t think he had enough experience to run in the Boodles Hurdle at Cheltenham this week.
“I thought he had the quality and the rating for it but he had never run on the Flat and I didn’t think he had enough racing experience to travel over there.”
Eric McNamara and his son Conor combined to land the second leg of the two-mile six-furlong handicap hurdle with the six-year-old Holiday In Kerry. Owned by the Forever Optimists Syndicate, the 9/1 chance was left clear by the final flight fall of Extreme Cacao to record an 11-length success.
Upcoming Fixtures
Down Royal – Thursday, March 17 (First Race 1.55pm)
Thurles – Saturday, March 19 (First Race 2.20pm)
Downpatrick – Sunday, March 20 (First Race 2.10pm)
The post Weekly Racing News | Chris Hayes secures a double in Dundalk as Cheltenham approaches appeared first on Sporting Limerick.
