Set The Tone bags first success for Waterford owners Cheaply-bought Set The Tone (5/1) gained a breakthrough success for the delighted OnlyfoolsnNorris’s Syndicate today, landing Wexford’s Cottage Autism Network Handicap Hurdle (Div I) for trainer David O’Brien and jockey Conor Stone-Walsh. Purchased as a yearling for just €1,000 from trainer/breeder Jim Bolger, who was successful in Leopardstown’s minutes-earlier race with Sea Of Rain, Set The Tone today scored a maiden success on her 17th attempt when beating Gerrys Wish by 2.25 lengths. Trainer O’Brien reported “it is great and the syndicate have been patient. We were deflated after Tramore (in May) but I said we’d cauterise her palate and wait for good ground. She finished second on her first run back and in fairness to Sean Flanagan (regular rider), he said to keep upping her in trip. “She had some good runs as a three-year-old so I told the lads that there was something there and to stick with her. She is coming and, with age, has strengthened up. “She was very cheap and it is the first syndicate that the lads are in. They are from around Waterford and are a great bunch of lads who have stuck with it.”
