Skippinandajumpin stays on best to land Leopardstown finale A beaten favourite at the Curragh in mid week, Skippinandajumpin rewarded those that kept the faith when staying on best under Dylan Browne McMonagle to win the concluding Watch Every Irish Race Live On Racing TV Handicap at Leopardstown. Sent off 2/1f, the Joseph O'Brien trained filly was held up well off the pace in the initial stages as Pandion Power and Still She Blooms went head to head up front. As the pace began to collapse over a furlong out, Vlhova came through to lead under Jack Cleary. Only fourth at that stage, the eventual winner stayed on strongly under McMonagle to lead close home for a half-length victory. Browne McMonagle said: “She’s a filly that has taken a bit of time to come to herself. “She warms up into her races well and has always finished off well. “The last day in the Curragh was very unfortunate. I ended up back and when I came to the stand’s side I had no luck in running at all. “I thought with a clean run she’d be very competitive and thankfully today we went a good gallop and the ground is slow so it spread them out and there were no excuses. “She did have to be tough in the last furlong but thankfully she got there. “She’s going to keep on improving with a bit of time and I’m delighted to get her head in front.” Additional reporting by Gary Carson.
