San Andreas and Wayne Hassett© Photo Healy Racing
Sixteen year old Wayne Hassett rode his first winner today, bagging Dundalk's €15,000 Join Us Instagram @dundalk_stadium Race on the Joseph O'Brien trained San Andreas (5/4f).
Hassett was no match for keen-going San Andreas in the early furlongs but looked balanced and was strong in the closing stages, pushing the seven year old out for a comfortable win from Angels Wrath
Hassett, a nephew of popular trainer and Coolmore employee Martin Hassett, was having his 17th ride and O'Brien's assistant Brendan Powell reported "the Hassett family are not far from us and Wayne has been coming in to us for almost three years.
“He's a very quiet lad who is starting to come out of his shell, is a lovely rider, is very light and it is great for him. Joseph gives those lads a chance.”
He added "the horse deserved it, he comes up here every time, runs his races and it doesn't really matter if it is seven furlongs, a mile or 1m2f. He has given a lot of these young lads great rides.
"The plan him will be to go to Newcastle - he ran there last year and just got beaten. He's a good solid horse and keeps bringing home prize money."
Quotes from Michael Graham
