Cheltenham winners collect again with Curragh double

Cheltenham festival winners trainer Noel Meade and jockey Colin Keane combined for Curragh doubles today, as veteran Layfayette rolled back the years (10/1) to win the concluding Your Game. Your Odds. Your 1xBet.ie Stayers Trophy Race.

Keane, a rare Flat jockey to win at Cheltenham last month with Meade’s The Mourne Rambler, held nine-year-old Layfayette up in rear over the 1m6f trip and having gradually progressed to challenge, led in the closing stages to beat A Piece Of Heaven by three-parts of a length.

Layfayette, winner of the Group 2 Mooresbridge Stakes in 2022, was registering his 10th career success and a first since 2023 and afterwards Meade reported “I had him in the 1m2f handicap today but lately he’s been jumping (from stalls) so slowly and travelling very lethargically early in his races. I’ve had to change his whole training regime and now he does a lot of his work on his own.

“We sent him off to our second gallop, which is five furlongs round, which he canters around and then breezes up the hill. He also leads the two-year-olds sometimes or works with something he can beat, which he seems to be absolutely delighted about - you can see him laughing at them!

“I wondered would he get today’s 1m6f trip but he did and Colin said he’d probably get two miles, but that you’d have to play with him. We’ll trick along and I think I’ll keep him at longer trips.”

He added "He's been a great horse but unfortunately his owner Paul (Hunt) died a couple of years ago so he runs in his wife Patricia’s name. We had a good few horses for the family but we’ve only two left now, this fella and Tell Nobody Nothin.”

Meade and Keane had earlier won with Galileo Noir

Quotes from Gary Carson