Saratoga Baby, right, nabs Brown Butterfly at the Curragh © Photo Healy Racing
Saratoga Baby collared Brown Butterfly right on the line to land the concluding Dublincoach.ie To The Curragh Races Handicap over a mile.
Brown Butterfly, in the first-time visor, travelled sweetly under Sam James before he kicked her on over a furlong out. She opened up a clear lead, but Ronan Whelan got a response from Saratoga Bay and she hunted her rival down to win by a short head at odds of 14/1.
The runner-up was 8/1 while Mick Halford saddled the third and fourth – Danzerini (16/1) and Eastern Rules (13/2) respectively.
Trainer Peter Fahey said of his five-year-old mare: “That’s great. She deserves it. She was running on grass all last year and never got good ground.
“It worked out brilliantly. The girls in the syndicate were saying before that she always wanted a mile so I’ll be getting some slagging!
“Every time she has run she has run a good race. She loves quick ground. She’ll go for something similar and hopefully the handicapper isn’t too hard on her.
“My horses weren’t running up to form and I had no runner for three weeks as they weren’t well at home. It’s great to see them back in good form.”
Additional reporting by Gary Carson
