Strategic Force easily wins Dundalk's opener

Toccata Blue claimed following win

hopefully he’s not claimed because he’s a character in the yard but at the same time if he is claimed, that’s what he was put in. If he’s not claimed we’ll be happy to take him home as he’s a great schoolmaster and a lead horse for a lot of young horses. it’s his 51st start and he’s been a great servant to us and Damian Nolan, who lives in Paris, has had him since he was a yearling. He never runs a bad race and the handicapper could handicap a race through him. We’re delighted to win a race with him.

Halford and Hoban win with Time Constraints

he’s getting better with racing - the first night he walked out of the stalls and was lost. He’s just one of those colts - a laid back lad and is getting better with each run. We always thought he had ability and Conor (Hoban) said he got a bit lonely in front but when they came to him, he shook him up and went again. He handles the surface well, is sound and has a good attitude. I put the blinkers on him as he was just so lazy but he probably doesn’t need them. I left them on him after the first day as he was just so lost. We’ll probably keep him going but he could be sold also.

English's Avenger completes quick hat-trick

he’s a grand old horse and he’s got his appetite for the game back. Rory just took his time and gave him a peach of a ride - that’s his third time riding him and he has it to a tee. He’ll come back in two weeks time for something similar and then we’ll put him away until the fast-track qualifier in March. We haven’t been too hard on him at home so he should come on from this and if he comes on from the next one, that’ll leave him right there for the qualifier.

Winter Lion wins seventh race

he did it well and stepping up the extra half mile to two miles really suited him. Over a mile-and-a-half last time he was just finding things happening a bit quick for him and definitely two miles is more his trip. Tonight was the plan really, to come back for the two miles and I’ll speak to the owner and see what he wants to do now. Hurdling is the plan really with him. We said we’d keep him going when he was in good form. He wants good ground and is a serious hurdler.

Proud Dobbs wins with Arbourfield

with both him and Carried, my other Dundalk horse, the wonderful thing is that they usually bring prize-money home. It’s nice to win one again with him, it’s his third win here - when they like it here it’s a huge bonus. These races are all about their marks - you’re competitive one day and then you win, and go up and aren’t competitive. We’ll give him a fair break between races and I take great pride when they are consistent.

Lenihan completes Dundalk double

I thought she was just beaten!. I was disappointed with her last week as I thought she’d be in the first three but she seemed to get tired in the last furlong then, so we decided to stick her in over seven furlongs and hope for the best and it seemed to suit her. She was stopping towards the line and just had enough to hang on. We’ll keep her in this grade and she might get a bit of a rest now as she’s after running two weeks in a row; I don’t want to sour her as she’s an old mare and she’s a bit difficult but is a hardy devil. She’s been on the go all year and has been running consistently.

Rosebud provides Lordan with double in finale

That’s good - eventually!. I really fancied her two runs back but it just didn’t happen and the last day, six (furlongs) was a bit sharp for her but she still ran a good race. She was a good bit better than her mark was and it’s just great to see her win. We had her mother and I think she won seven races between hurdling and the Flat - she wasn’t as precocious as this one was early on. We’ll have a nice bit of fun with her and she has a lovely owner (Derek Molloy).