Kildare jockeys and trainers have strong Derby festival weekend

Local apprentice Jamie Powell recorded the first double of his career when winning both sprint handicaps at the Curragh on Sunday.

He won the six-furlong handicap on the Kevin Coleman trained Coumshingaun, the 10/1 shot recording a tidy one and three-parts of a length win over the Johnny Levins-trained 33/1 chance Nordic Passage although 3lbs out of the handicap proper.

Teaming up with Johnny Feane, Powell followed up straight away in the €100,000 Rockingham Handicap when partnering the Charlotte Musgrave-owned Ano Syra to a narrow success.

The well-supported 9/2 chance headed the Charles O'Brien-trained Big Gossey close to the finish to win by three-parts of a length.

Willie McCreery and Billy Lee supplied owner breeders Ballylinch Stud with another weekend winner as Self Belief took the eight-furlong median auction maiden.

The 12/1 chance came from well off the pace to score by a length and three-parts from the Jessica Harrington-trained 2/1 favourite Paris Peacock.

The first Kildare-trained winner on Derby weekend came in the opening race at the Curragh on Saturday as the Ken Condon-trained Teresa Mendoza scored a narrow success in the listed Dash Stakes over six-furlongs.

The well-supported 4/1 chance, in the colours of Ecurie Ama Zingteam, came from the back of the field under Billy Lee to pip the Johnny Levins-trained Prisoner’s Dilemma by half a length.

It turned into a fine day for local trainers as Johnny Murtagh and Ben Coen combined to win the Group 2 Gain Railway Stakes with Shartash in the colours of his owner/ breeder HH Aga Khan.

It was tight at the line but the 9/1 chance led in the final stride to deny Aidan O'Brien’s 5/6 favourite Blackbeard by a shorthead.

Michael O'Callaghan took the eight-furlong handicap with Fastnet Crown which races in the colours of his breeder, Michael Smith.

The 13/2 chance picked up well under Leigh Roche inside the final furlong to deny the Jim Bolger-trained McTigue by a neck at the line.

Bay Of Bengal scored by the same margin when taking the 10-furlong handicap for Willie McCreery and Billy Lee.

The 11/4 favourite, owned and bred by Ballylinch Stud, was another to arrive late on the scene and she got up to beat Brian Duffy’s Magic Chegaga with the Jessica Harrington-trained Lealaps three-parts of a length away in third place.

Sablonne, trained by Jessica Harrington and ridden by Shane Foley, scored a narrow success in the six-furlong handicap for three-year-olds at Naas on Wednesday. The 7/1 shot led before halfway and battled well up the hill to see off the Joseph O'Brien-trained Andreas Vesalius by a neck.

Ronan Whelan was a winner on the Sligo card on Tuesday where he partnered the Andy Oliver-trained Band Width to take the six-furlong median auction race. The 9/2 shot didn’t enjoy the clearest of passages but finished to great effect to beat the Joe Murphy-trained Messa Concertata, ridden by Gary Carroll, by half a length.

Ross O'Sullivan helped high-flying apprentice Jake Coen to his second double in as many days as Gracesolution took the 10-furlong handicap at odds of 15/2. The five-year-old headed the Conor O'Dwyer trained front runner Barretstown inside the final furlong to score by three-parts of a length.

Coen had earlier taken the six-furlong fillies and mares’ handicap on the Pat Murphy-trained Craft Irish, adding to two winners at Roscommon on the previous evening.

Gary Carroll scored a cosy success on three-time Galway Festival winner Imposing Supreme at Ballinrobe on Monday.

In the colours of Leonard Kinsella and Kevin Haigney, the Tom Gibney-trained 13/2 chance led before the straight and had a little in hand as he beat the Joseph O'Brien-trained 11/4 favourite Talbot by a length and a half.

Unsurprisingly, the winners heads back to Galway, where he was a winner in 2019 and twice last year, next month.