'Champagne stuff' puts McCarthy on top Eoin McCarthy completed a Listowel treble and remarkably put himself in control of that festival’s trainers’ championship today, as Tropical Image (9/2 fav) landed the Guinness Mares Handicap Hurdle. Ridden by 7lb claiming jockey Thomas O’Connor, eight-year-old Tropical Image raced prominently throughout today’s 2m6f contest and scored readily from Sights Unseen . Locally Athea-based McCarthy, whose best seasonal tally was 13 wins in 2022/23, was registering a sixth success this week with today’s first career hat-trick moving him two clear (6-4) of Willie Mullins, ahead of tomorrow’s festival finale. Following another very well received winner, ex-jockey McCarthy reported “last year, I left here deflated when getting out of jail with just one big-priced winner (250/1) and while loads ran ok, it is a funny game as the only currency is winners. “At the back end of last year we didn’t have the string of horses we wanted and it was one-thing-after-another which was going wrong. We worked hard at getting quality young horses though and got back rolling in the spring, after going nine months without a win. “A month ago, I said we had savage depth with some lovely handicappers, maiden horses and unraced ones and it was the best team we ever had. I dreamed of having six winners but would have settled for three, so this is phenomenal.” McCarthy, who described earlier wins with Ollie La Ba Ba and Regards To Rose as “champagne stuff”, added “Tropical Image is a well-bred filly but early on in her career she was disappointing. “Sean (Maguire, owner) is a great man for patience so we gave her time and she came back going well this year. She was unlucky to bump into a well-handicapped winner at Sligo in June and after her good run in Killarney in August, we parked up with this race in mind and thankfully it worked out.”
