Gerrit's Gem returns to form at favourite track The return to Cork sparked Gerrtt’s Gem (12/1) back to life as the Belardo gelding gave Jack Cleary a quick double when comfortably landing the William Hill Each Way Extra Handicap. Well down the field in three outings in the early part of the season, the five-year-old was returning from a three-month break and was prominent throughout in a race dominated by those which were drawn low and raced towards the far side. In front over 2f out, the winner kept on well to beat Dmaniac by three and a half lengths. Following two victories last year, Gerrit’s Gem, owned by Gerrit O’Reilly, is now unbeaten in three runs at Cork. 5lb claimer Cleary, now on the 12-winner mark for the campaign, had won the previous contest on Charles Fort. Winning trainer Kieran Cotter said: "I fancied my other horse Pinar Del Rio more but he ran no race, and I didn't get a chance to talk to Ronnie (Whelan, jockey). This fellow had won his maiden here quite impressively but then lost his way. He had shown signs of coming back recently so we said we'd roll the dice and see. "We gave Jack no instructions and told him to let him go once he was happy. "He also won over a mile here last year and is a nice horse who is still a work in progress. There might be a decent day in him and I wouldn't think he'd want the ground any softer than that." Additional reporting by Thomas Weekes
