White smoke for Chicago Pope in Naas Chicago Pope benefitted from a positive ride by Ben Coen to open his account at the fifth attempt in the Tifrums Irish EBF (C&G) Maiden at Naas. The son of Starspangledbanner was sharply away from stalls and soon stretched four lengths clear. It appeared that he may be swallowed up when coming under pressure well over a furlong out but the 100/30 chance, who was available at 15/2 this morning, kept on strongly in the closing stages to beat Michael's Well by three-quarters of a length. Saville Row was a further length and three-quarters back in third. Winning trainer Johnny Murtagh said, “We were a little bit disappointed with him the last time in the Goffs Million. There were 30 runners and he was in (the stalls) a long time and missed the kick. You could put a line through the first half of the race, but he finished well. “I thought dropping him back to six here, because he ran well here before, and put the cheekpieces on him. “Ben said he pinged the gates and travelled really well. He got a bit lonely in front but he always felt like he was holding them going to the line. “He’ll be a nice sprinter next year.”
