Going - Soft, Heavy In Places. Changed to Heavy, Soft in places after race 3. Overcast
Jackpot Pool - €567.13 Not Won. Carried forward to Dundalk on Friday 20th March. Placepot Pool - €34,497.49 Dividend - €80.30 Winning Units - 300.62. Days Aggregate - €124,354.15 Last Year €98,538.00
Wingin A Prayer enjoys soft ground at Down Royal
We are very pleased with that,. He was disappointing the last day and Robert (Power) said he never faced into the wind the last day. Today he got back onto that soft ground and loved it and was a different horse today for whatever reason. I don't know where we will go next with everything that is going on!. He is going to be a lovely horse going over a fence next season as well.
Cross card St Patrick's Day double for Cromwell
I suppose he was entitled to do that off his mark of 114. It wasn’t the greatest race in the world, for unplaced maidens, but Johnny gave him a lovely patient ride and took his time on that ground.
Fenton's Groody Rover a horse going places
Brian (Hayes) had made up his mind before they went out that if there wasn't going to be pace he would make the running,. I'd say tactics played a big part. He jumped pretty well having lots of experience from point-to-points, so credit to our jockey. Those couple of jumps (at the last two hurdles) probably made him as impressive as he was. Let's hope he is improving. I'm sure Fairyhouse would come into the reckoning, a novice handicap in Fairyhouse or Cork on Easter Sunday. We'll see what the handicapper does, we thought he was harsh enough on him with a 120 of a rating. You can't disagree with him (now).
Cromwell doubles up with Prospectus
I wasn't sure about the ground today. I know he wants an ease in the ground but before on heavy ground he didn't jump that well. He jumped well today. He never travelled really well but Brien gave him a smashing ride and kept him up to his game. He's been very in and out but delighted to get that.
Cross card double as Elliott goes one two in Down Royal feature
He jumped great and Denis (O'Regan) gave him a good ride and dictated from the front,. He was coming back to a bit of life at home. His last run in the Leinster National had been better than he was running. They are all kind of old-timers, one beating the other. Sean (Flanagan) said Jury Duty just hated that ground. It's just so hard to place those horses with that sort of a rating.
Winged Leader has "come of age" and gains 1st racecourse win
He has really come of age this year. Last year myself and Barry (O'Neill) took quite a lot of stick when he got beat a couple of times,. He was nearly kind of bolting and running away. It would have been so easy to turn him into a horse that you could only run flat out with. We rode him out the back, and rode him out the back, and a couple of times we let him down when he got there to win it and he just came second, and we took a lot of stick about it. It was the making of him. That's a year in getting him settled, there's a lot of work has gone into that horse - from Barry riding him to ourselves at home. He's only a six-year-old and he is a proper horse. I have ambitions with him. The whole thing with him was never to get too carried away and just take it wee steps at a time. If we did that, the horse would come to us. If we did the opposite we would ruin him. I'm delighted for the horse and for us. In a normal year you would be thinking of the Joseph O'Reilly or Punchestown. He is ready for that but now we are in a situation where we don't know what we are doing with plans. It is great that he has put that under his belt now - great for him, great for the owners and for us to have something to build on.
Delvino builds on promising debut
She's a big mare, I'd say there is just a bit of furnishing to do yet,. Mark (O'Hare) said it was a messy enough race, they went a good gallop but if he was to ride her again he would give her a bit more cover. It turned into a bit of a sprint even though the ground was bad. He said he liked her - she travels and she is sweet. We'll wait and see what the ground does, she wouldn't want it any better than good to yielding anyway. She's a big, lump of a mare and is growing. I'm very happy with her and she is a good, strong mare.
