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Lynch seals his Gowran double on Ar Eagla Na Heagla

Ar Eagla Na Heagla, near side, unleashes her challengeAr Eagla Na Heagla, near side, unleashes her challenge
© Photo Healy Racing

Ar Eagla Na Heagla got off the mark at the 19th time of asking and gave jockey Andrew Lynch a Gowran Park double.

There was plenty of money around for the four-year-old filly in morning trading for this mares' handicap hurdle as her price contracted from 18/1 to 8/1 before she was returned at 11/1.

She travelled well behind the leaders and was switched to come between horses after the second-last.

She delivered her challenge at the final flight and took a narrow lead from 9/2 favourite Bridge Native on the run-in.

From there she was ridden out to come home by three parts of a length. The 'jolly' took the runner-up berth while Goaheadmakemyday (8/1) and Reine Fee (12/1) gave their supporters an each-way reward in third and fourth respectively.

Trainer Francis Casey said: “She was unlucky a few times and probably should have won in Sligo once or twice but she’s had her day now.

“Tom Richardson from Balbriggan owns her along with my mother June and my wife Paula.

“Eight Till Late came out of the race in Thurles brilliant. He’s in great order and is bucking. We’ve brought him down to the sea the last few days.

“He takes his races well. The right-handed small field suits him and that’s why we ran him (in Thurles) but it might not suit him tomorrow (in the Troytown) going left-handed with 25 runners. He couldn’t be in better form.”

Andrew Lynch said: "She did it well, she just has one little burst and then she just keeps going.

"She has been knocking on the door and she is a grand filly and she jumps. She probably wanted a little bit further but it worked out well."

Lynch also scored on Lever Du Soleil in division two of the three-year-old maiden hurdle.

Additional reporting by Alan Magee

About Michael Graham
Michael has worked in horse racing journalism for more than 15 years, having also written a weekly betting column on Gaelic football and hurling for a newspaper. He is involved in writing the My Racing Story features on this website. He spent a year in South Africa completing a Diploma in Business Administration and also studied Newspaper Journalism in Belfast. He enjoys playing 5-a-side football on a regular basis.