Altimara 'wanted it more' as she lands a thriller Altimara (10/3 favourite) came out on the right side of an absolutely thrilling finish with Lady Pagasa in the Unio Employee Benefits Handicap at Leopardstown. Both horses carried joint top-weight of 10 stone which made their efforts more meritorious. Altimara and Donagh O'Connor knifed through to lead entering the final furlong, but they were joined by fast-finishing Lady Pagasa and Ben Coen in the closing stages. It was hammer and tongs all the way to the line, but Altimara always looked to have a very slight advantage and so it proved when she got the result by a short head from the 9/2 runner-up. The front two separated themselves from the remainder who were headed by Bowman in third at 16/1. Ross O'Sullivan said: “It’s great. It was an anxious moment going past the line as we weren’t sure. “We were watching it from the stands, but watching the replay she always stuck her head out and toughed it out great. She wanted it more. “Donagh said she relaxed even better today as she was very hard on herself. The hood has definitely worked great with her. “It was a great ride again by Donagh. He deserves it as he’s in with us twice a week and is a great rider. He’s a little bit underrated and you can see there he can match it with the best. “I’m delighted for him and also for the owners Yvonne Lavin and the Cooney family. It’s great to get a winner for them as they’ve been very good to us over the years. “We’ll see how far she can go. She got 7lb the last day and will find her own level at some stage. “It’s nice to have won two with a filly that was very frustrating. “Brendan (Cooney) stuck with her all the way. There were a couple of things that went wrong with her through the last year and she eventually came good.” Additional reporting by Gary Carson
