Timely success for Daamberdiplomat Top weight Daamberdiplomat (14/1) proved a timely winner of the Curragh’s Fitzpatrick's Mercedes-Benz Handicap today, scoring for jockey Ben Coen, trainer Johnny Murtagh and the Whyte Hickey Rafter Kilkenny Syndicate. Conceding weight to his 13 rivals, Daamberdiplomat was produced by Coen to lead between horses in the final furlong and finished well to defeat Rappell by a half-length. Murtagh mentioned “he’s been very consistent all year and I thought he ran well in Fairyhouse last time out. Ben rode him well today and I think it was the ride that won the race, as he got him in a lovely position. We put the cheekpieces just to give him that extra bit of help. “He’s very competitive off 87 but when he goes to 93 or 94, has to run five more times to get back to 87. There is no secret about him, he was on his winning mark today. “The horses have been running well (this weekend) but it is nice to get one on the board. We have a good few tomorrow as well.” Daamberdiplomat carries Dublin’s sky blue and navy colours with syndicate-member Ciaran Kilkenny featuring in his county’s All-Ireland quarter-final clash with Tyrone later this evening. Quotes from Gary Carson
