Sixteen-year-old Holohan rides first winner in Dundalk's finale Pony racing-graduate Reese Holohan registered a first racecourse success today, showing real promise when landing Dundalk’s concluding DundalkStadium.com Handicap on the Denis Hogan-trained Benavente (7/1). Initially held up in rear of mid-division, Benavente's path was blocked by rivals early in the straight but, having been switched right, the seven-year-old was given a strong and polished drive by Holohan to eventually collect by 1.25 lengths from Queen Aethelflaed . Apprenticed to trainer Mark Fahey, 16-year-old Holohan, from Mountrath, Co Laois, reported "That is brilliant! "You'd always be looking at the likes of Dylan Browne and Colin Keane and pony racing is a great learning curve. It teaches you everything you need to know for coming here." "I’m hoping to keep riding as much as I can, to get as much experience as I can and hopefully get a few winners along the way.” Regarding today’s race, he added "When we were turning for home, he just took off. It is just different, a different feeling altogether. It is nice to get winners when you are riding pony racing, but this feels different.” Benavente was registering a second success for new owner James McAuley, and an sixth in total. Quotes from Michael Graham
