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Gary Carson

Gary Carson

Style shock as Whittington beaten

Sun 25th May 2014, 14:08

Intense Style scores as Dawn Mirage and Dick Whittington give chase Intense Style scores as Dawn Mirage and Dick Whittington give chase
© Photo Healy Racing

The Jim Bolger-trained Intense Style sprang a 20/1 shock in the opener at the Curragh this afternoon as hotpot Dick Whittington failed to quicken in the heavy ground.

Yulong Xiongba took them along in the six-furlong contest but gave way over a furlong out as Kevin Manning drove Intense Style into the lead.

He was followed through by Dawn Mirage but asserted in good style in the closing stages for a length-and-a-quarter victory.

2/7 shot Dick Whittington, just denied by yesterday's Marble Hill winner Cappella Sansevero on his Naas debut, was held up but failed to quicken when taking closer order two furlongs out. He plugged on in the closing stages to take the runner-up spot at the death.

The winner was turning around Naas form with the favourite having been six-and-three-quarter lengths behind him last time.

“He ran very well in his first race but he then misbehaved at Naas and lost the plot,” revealed Bolger.

“It's nice to get back on track and I think I'll move him up to stakes class now. His dam is by Galileo and the sire got a mile so he should have no trouble getting a mile in time.”

Kevin Manning reported that it was “very deep ground”. The testing conditions led to four non-runners in the race. There are 28 out over the whole card.

(Additional reporting by Alan Magee)

About Gary Carson
Gary started out as a trainee/assistant journalist with the Sporting Life newspaper and has worked in the racing industry for over 25 years. He has been with the Press Association since 2013 and won the Irish Field Nap Table in 2016. He enjoys working with horses and trained his own horse, Mamaslittlestar, to win a point-to-point in 2019.