Flight Risk, white, comes homes best in the feature at the Curragh© Photo Healy Racing
Flight Risk may have been an unconsidered 50/1 shot for the featured Group 3 Big Bad Bob Gladness Stakes at the Curragh, but he belied those odds when scoring by a length and a quarter.
He raced on the far rail and was pushed along by Kevin Manning in rear of mid-division with over a quarter of a mile to go in this valuable seven furlong race. Inside the two pole he started to respond to pressure and was soon seen improving into third.
Manning got into the drive position and Flight Risk picked up Sruthan and Sovereign Debt as they passed the furlong pole. He kept on best from 150 yards out and was able to repel the running on Piri Wango (33/1) and Cable Bay (8/1). The latter, who took third, suffered traffic problems with two furlongs to race and was switched inside.
Jim Bolger said: "Pat O'Donovan rides him out regularly and told me the other day that he could be a Group One horse if everything fell right for him. Everything fell right today and he's on his way. Maybe this is the start of the rest of his career.
"He got bogged down in Cork and the better ground today helped. He's a much improved horse this year. Hopefully he can go on from there. I'd like to come back for the mile race on Derby weekend."
Additional reporting by Alan Magee
