First career treble for Daniel King
The four-year-old Beechwood ran out an impressive winner of the 12-furlong fillies and mares’ listed race for trainer Paddy Twomey at Galway. Owned by Glyn and Jane Davies and ridden by Billy Lee, the 5/1 chance led early in the straight and pulled away inside the final furlong to score by four and a quarter lengths from the Mark Prescott-trained favourite Rouge Sellier.
Aidan O'Brien had earlier sent out by far the easiest winner of the day as the two-year-old Trinity College ran away with the opening eight-furlong maiden. The Wayne Lordan-ridden odds-on favourite made most of the running and went clear before the straight to score by all of twelve lengths from the John Nallen-trained Minella Boss.
Gary Carroll reached the 25-winner mark for the season on 25/1 chance Dark Oak in the concluding Sean Cleary Memorial Fillies & Mares Maiden. Trained for Nick Bradley Racing by Joe Murphy, the three-year-old also led before the straight and she too held off the late run of Joseph O'Brien’s Radar Ahead by three-parts of a length.
Donnacha O'Brien and Gavin Ryan won the six-furlong maiden for two-year-olds with the promising-looking Comanche Brave at Cork on Wednesday. Always up with the pace, the strong odds-on favourite eased clear before the furlong-pole and came home a four and a half-length winner from the Kevin Coleman-trained long shot Elusive Duke.
The concluding nine-furlong handicap went to the Andy Slattery-trained Killeaney Bear which is owned by Charles Kerwin. Ridden by the trainer’s son and namesake, the well-supported 9/2 shot made much of the running and gamely saw off the Kieran Cotter-trained Koniag by half a length with Johnny Murtagh’s favourite Tanazadia a head away in third place.
The middle leg of a first career treble for jockey Daniel King came on the Denis Hogan-trained Ah Fuhgeddaboudit in the mares’ maiden hurdle over two and a quarter miles at Ballinrobe on Friday. A runner-up at the course on her previous start, the 5/1 chance went a place better when beating Gordon Elliott’s Mexican Moonshine by two lengths.
King had earlier won on Paul Flynn-trained Solar Drive in the three-year-old maiden hurdle and then took the near three-mile handicap chase on Danny Howard’s Likable Chancer to become the meeting’s headline maker.
Rachael Blackmore and Henry de Bromhead won the two and three-quarter-mile mares’ handicap hurdle with Cobra Queen. Owned by Matt Fitzgerald, the well-supported 7/2 chance headed her own stable companion Ring O Roses, ridden by Darragh O'Keeffe, after the final hurdle to win by a length and a quarter.
Although strongly represented at Leopardstown on the opening day of Irish Champions Festival, Aidan O'Brien made the Saturday headlines with his success with the Sean Leavy-ridden Jan Brueghel in the St Leger at Doncaster. The 11/4 joint-favourite gave O'Brien his eighth win in the final British Classic of the season when outbattling his own stable companion, and fellow market leader, Illinois, by a neck.
At Leopardstown, the champion trainer landed a double as the Ryan Moore-ridden Diego Velazquez, the odds-on favourite, scored a taking one and a quarter length win in the Group 2 TonyBet Solonaway Stakes. He beat the Ger Lyons-trained six-year-old Mutasarref by a length and a half with another Ballydoyle runner, Mountain Bear, a head away in third place.
Wayne Hassett exceled as he recorded the biggest winner of his career to date on the O'Brien-trained Fighter in the Irish Stallion Farms EBF Petingo Handicap. He made all the running on the 9/1 chance and never saw a rival as he scored by four lengths from the same trainer’s favourite Chemistry and Ryan Moore.
O'Brien’s Auguste Rodin just came up short in his attempt to win the Royal Bahrain Irish Champion Stakes for the second year running. He lost to Britain’s best three-year-old Economics, trained by William Haggas, and ridden by Tom Marquand, by a neck with Japanese contender Shin Emperor three-parts of a length away in third place.
The season’s outstanding filly Porta Fortuna claimed her third Group 1 success of the season and her fourth in all as she claimed the Coolmore America 'Justify' Matron Stakes. Again, ridden by Tom Marquand, the strong 5/4 favourite came with her challenge early in the straight and led inside the final furlong to beat her old foe Fallen Angel, the Tattersalls Irish 1,000 Guineas winner, by a length. She now heads for the Breeders’ Cup Mile at Del Mar in San Diego at the beginning of November.
Nathan Crosse rounded off the nine-race card with success on the Johnny Feane-trained Vera’s Secret in the HKJC World Pool Autumn Fillies & Mares Handicap. Owned and bred by Jim Browne of Kilnamoragh Stud, the five-year-old made all the running and maintained a healthy advantage in the straight to score by all of three and three-parts of a length from the Gavin Cromwell-trained Snellen to give Crosse another big handicap success this season, adding to his win on Jessica Harrington’s Going Remote in the BoyleSports Ulster Derby at Down Royal in June.
Aidan O'Brien landed two more winners on the second day of Irish Champions Festival at the Curragh on Sunday where his star stayer Kyprios stole the show with a thoroughly authoritative display in the season’s final Classic, the Comer Group International Irish St Leger.
The winner of the race in 2022 and runner-up last year, the game six-year-old led early in the straight under Ryan Moore and stayed on strongly to win by two and a quarter lengths from the Willie Mullins-trained Vauban with Marco Botti’s Giavellotto three-parts of a length away in third place. The winner, an odds-on favourite, was adding to wins this season at the top level in the Gold Cup at Royal Ascot and the Goodwood Cup.
Earlier, O'Brien and Wayne Lordan had taken the Group 1 Moyglare Stud Stakes with Lake Victoria which brought her unbeaten run to three as the winning sequence of Bedtime Story came to an end. Lordan sat last of the five runners on the 11/2 chance but came through to lead well inside the final furlong to beat the Ollie Sangster-trained Simmering by a length and a quarter with odds-on favourite Bedtime Story fading to finish last of the quintet and was later reported to be lame by the IHRB vet.
Irish Champions Festival
Star performances from the William Haggas-trained Economics, Donnacha O'Brien’s Porta Fortuna, Archie Watson’s Bradsell and Aidan O'Brien’s Kyprios lit up a terrific renewal of Irish Champions Festival at Leopardstown and the Curragh on Saturday and Sunday.
In all there were twelve different winning trainers and ten different winning jockeys across the two days with Aidan O'Brien and Colin Keane topping their respective tables. Owned by the big race sponsor, His Highness Shaikh Isa bin Salman Al Khalifa, Economics pipped last year’s winner Auguste Rodin to the line with Japanese hopeful Shin Emperor running a big race for third in the Group 1 Royal Bahrain Irish Champion Stakes at Leopardstown. Winning jockey Tom Marquand followed up on the Donnacha O'Brien-trained Porta Fortuna, the season’s outstanding filly, in the Group 1 Coolmore America 'Justify' Matron Stakes.
At the Curragh on Sunday, Aidan O'Brien and Wayne Lordan combined to take the Group 1 Moyglare Stud Stakes with Lake Victoria and the champion trainer later as old favourite Kyprios, the world’s top stayer, scored his second win in the Comer Group International Irish St Leger, the final classic of the season, under Ryan Moore.
Having watched her husband Tom Marquand win both Group 1 races at Leopardstown, Hollie Doyle captured one of her own when partnering the Archie Watson-trained Bradsell to take the Bar One Racing Flying Five Stakes.
Joseph O'Brien and Dylan Browne McMonagle landed their second win in three years in the Goffs Vincent O'Brien National Stakes as Scorthy Champ triumphed at the main expense of the Aidan O'Brien-trained Henri Matisse. Trained by Cork’s Gavin Hernon in France, the Ronan Whelan-ridden Spirit D’Or won the Tattersalls Ireland Super Auction Sales Stakes and there were also winners over the two days for trainers Emmet Mullins, Johnny Murtagh, Ger Lyons, Jessica Harrington, Ross O’Sullivan, and Johnny Feane. Jockeys Shane Foley, Wayne Hassett and Nathan Crosse also got in on the winning act.
Upcoming Fixtures
Naas – Thursday, September 19 (First Race 1.55pm)
Downpatrick - Friday, September 20 (First Race 2.15pm)
Dundalk - Friday, September 20 (First Race 5.00pm)
Navan - Saturday, September 21 (First Race 2.00pm)
Gowran Park - Saturday, September 21 (First Race 2.16pm)
Listowel - Sunday, September 22 (First Race 2.00pm)