By Brian Fleming
Pat Smullen's bid to retain his championship crown gathered momentum at a damp Wexford on Saturday afternoon when the Offaly rider recorded a 23/1 double aboard Dermot Weld's Murrayfield and the Willie Mullins-trained Mill Lane Flyer.
Last seasons champion rider sent Michael Smurfit's American-bred Murrayfield to the front approaching the home turn in the Nick O'Donnell Memorial Handicap over 1m5f and the move proved decisive as the partnership stayed on well in the straight to easily account for Careless and the disappointing favourite Sharpaten.
Half-an-hour later in the Barrow Handicap over a similar trip Smullen brought his seasonal tally to 51, two clear of nearest pursuer John Murtagh, when he sent the 5/1 favourite Mill Lane Flyer into a clear lead at the two furlong pole to settle the issue at the expense of light-weight Society Friend and Diaspora.
Aidan Fitzgerald, successful aboard Gamekeeper for the second successive year in the GPT Amateur Handicap on the opening day of the Galway Festival last month, also came away from the southern venue with a brace sparked off on Pochick, trained under permit by Tom Donohue, before Winter Break scooped the concluding bumper for Sean Treacy.
