Pink Oxalis provides Thorne with big handicap success The Hong Kong Jockey Club World Pool Autumn Fillies Handicap looked a wide-open event beforehand and so it proved with Pink Oxalis coming out on top at odds of 22/1 in the €100,000 finale at Leopardstown. The Stephen Thorne-trained filly was towards the rear of the 20 runners entering the straight but quickened up well between horses inside the final furlong. The large field was spread right across the straight at the business end but David Egan’s mount got nicely on top in the closing stages to beat Anvika by a length and three-quarters. Mallavelly was a further half a length back in third with Empress Artemis completing the places in fourth. Thorne said, “It’s a great weekend to showcase Irish racing and just to be part of it is very special; to get one on the board in my first full season as a trainer means a helluva lot. “I’ve got a great team of people behind me. My assistant Stephen Mooney is a great part of it, and I owe him plenty. “I feel very sorry for Jack Kearney. When we saw the draw for this race we swapped him off this filly, who he has won three times on, and put him on the other filly. “It’s just the way the races have been materialising all day, the middle to stands’ side is where you need to be. She’s a real hold up filly and David has given her a perfect ride. “To start life off 59 in the wintertime at Dundalk has given her a lot of confidence to come into the turf season. “These races aren’t easily won but she’s won like a helluva good filly there today. “In Galway from stall 19 she showed that she’s more than capable off top-weight. She ran a cracker. “The last day the Cambridgeshire just didn’t work out. There was no pace in the race and Wayne wasn’t hard on her, so she was nice and fresh for today. “She’s Saudi owned by a couple of new owners into the yard and hopefully they will be re-investing with us. I’m super proud for them and the support they’ve given me. “They sent me this filly before I even had a runner so hats off to them. They picked her out themselves in Goffs, five-and-a-half grand. “She must be one of the most progressive handicappers of the season.” Additional reporting by Gary Carson
