Locals in clover as The Piper's Call scores at the Curragh Locally-based Danny McLoughlin landed his first winner of the season when his three-year-old The Piper's Call battled to a narrow success in the TRI Equestrian Maiden at the Curragh. Placed on both starts last season, the 5/2 favourite made all the running under Scott McCullagh and held off the late surge of Dick Brabazon’s 7/2 chance Tide Of Fortune to score by a neck in the colours of the Ten Bob Syndicate. “I walked the track at 3pm and if it was any slower I would probably have taken him out,” said McLoughlin. “Scott said it was a touch slow for him. He said he took a blow about half-a-furlong from home but he said his class just dug him out. “He’s a horse that we always thought a lot of. He’s a very laidback horse but he actually looked like he was taking a bit of a grip going down to the start, which is unlike him. “In the race he jumped and was on the front foot. He probably raced a little bit in Scott’s hands, which wouldn’t have helped. “He’s probably only 90 percent fit. He’s a big horse and he’s like a child’s pony at home. You can see him there he’s trying to pick grass! “He’s a gentleman of a horse to do anything with. He’s the sort of horse that will only get fit when he starts racing. He’ll improve a lot from that. “We’ve be minding him, like you have to do with the better ones, and hopefully that’s only the start. “With the lack of racing everything is probably coming a bit quick now. “He was in at Cork twice and the ground went heavy on him. I was hoping to get him out then and then maybe get another run into him in a rated race on good ground. “I always thought he could be a Jersey horse but it’s probably going to come a bit quick now. “We’ll look after him and see how he pulls out of it, get him home and make a plan then.”
