Top Pedigree comes up trumps on classy card at Dundalk Stadium

Congratulations to Colin Keane, who on Wednesday secured Ireland’s flat jockeys’ championship crown for the fourth time when Bucky Larson won at Dundalk for Colin’s boss Ger Lyons.

Earlier in the day, his closest challenger, Billy Lee, had failed in a bid to get a riding suspension overturned, a decision that meant he would miss the last two fixtures of the season, which included Dundalk on Friday.

Bucky Larson had moved Colin onto 90 winners for the season, one ahead in the championship battle. That became two when Colin landed the opening race on Friday’s card, the William Hill Lengthen Your Odds Maiden, on Lokada (3/1) for Curragh-based trainer Michael O’Callaghan.

“She has plenty of boot,” said O’Callaghan of his 21,000gns horses-in-training purchase, adding, “She’s an out-and-out five-furlong filly.”

Colin completed a double on the night when Juncture (5/2 fav), who is owned by Juddmonte Farms and trained by Ger Lyons, landed the card’s big race, the €47,500 Irish Stallion Farms EBF Cooley Fillies’ Stakes.

Racing in blinkers for the first time, the winner reiterated the promise she had shown when winning smoothly in a Listed race, also at Dundalk, in March.

Ger said: “She’s a rock-solid Group 3 filly and it’s all about the ground with her. She clearly loves it here. She’s a valuable filly and might now go to the paddocks.” We await news on this with great interest for, as Ger said, “She’s a lovely filly.” The winning distance was a smooth two-and-a-quarter lengths.

The first division of the Irish Stallion Farms EBF Fillies’ Maiden for two-year-olds saw Beginnings (8/11 fav) run out an impressive six-length winner in the hands of Seamie Heffernan.

Trained by Ireland’s champion trainer Aidan O’Brien, the winner is a daughter of six-time Group 1 winner Lord Kanaloa, who was trained in Japan, and English and Irish 1,000 Guineas winner Winter, who won a maiden at Dundalk in 2016. That is quite a pedigree.

The winning jockey said: “Without doubt, she’ll be, at least, a stakes filly. She felt classy and bolted up”

Aidan and Seamie completed a double when Bertinelli won the maiden for two-year-old colts and geldings, although he had to battle to land odds of 1/5, winning by just a neck from Jessica Harrington’s newcomer, Pivotal Revive.

By 2018 American Triple Crown hero Justify out of Group 1 winner Together Forever, he too has a lovely pedigree and looks to have a promising future.

The second division of the fillies’ maiden went to Mere Accountant (8/1), who is trained by Johnny Murtagh and was ridden by Ben Coen, who said that “she flicked across the surface well, it suits her”, something that is not unusual for progeny of her – and earlier winner Juncture’s – sire, Dark Angel.

The winner provided yet another fine advert for barrier trials at Dundalk as she won one ahead of finishing second to a potential Aidan O’Brien star, Dame Kiri, on her racecourse debut at Gowran Park on October 16th.

The card’s apprentice handicap saw S’All Good Man (16/1) register a first career success at what was the seventeenth attempt.

To be fair, the Bill Farrell-trained six-year-old gelding had received quite a high rating for finishing second in a Dundalk maiden two years earlier and was at last able to take advantage of a falling mark. Cian MacRedmond was the winning jockey.

S'All Good Man is a half-brother to Xenobia, who Bill trained to win a Group 3 race in 2018.  

A couple of mile handicaps closed out the card, both sponsored by bookmaker William Hill.

The first was won by the Hilary McLoughlin-trained Howyoulikethat (7/1), who completed a double on the card for jockey Ben Coen. The second horse home was Ellabella (10/1), who is trained by Andy McNamara and ridden by promising apprentice Jack Kearney.

Ellabella, who is owned and was bred by Dr Margaret Heffernan, was winning at Dundalk for the third time this year and for the fourth time from her last five visits to the Stadium, each of those victories coming over one mile.

The clues were there ahead of a very poignant win as Andy’s father, Andrew, passed away a year ago almost to the day.