Racing Review- Mullins on the mark with a string of winners across week

Pat Foley gave jockey Sean O’Keeffe the second of his three winners on the day as Cathryns Ruby won the opening division of the two and a half-mile handicap hurdle at Wexford on Sunday.

Owned by Gerard Berkery and Con Berkery, the 28/1 shot led approaching the final hurdle to beat Liam O’Brien’s 22/1 chance We’llgowats by half a length.

O’Keeffe was also successful on in the two-mile maiden hurdle on Paul Nolan’s 11/2 chance The Big Clubman and he won a handicap hurdle Colin Bowe’s 11/2 chance Morell River to complete his treble.

Willie Mullins landed his third success of the week when the 5/2 chance Doctor Steinberg won the near two and three-quarter-mile maiden hurdle at Galway on Sunday. Ridden by Paul Townend, the five-year-old led at the fifth-last hurdle and was well on top in beating Denis Hogan’s 2/1 shot Frankie John by five and a half lengths.

Donagh Meyler was on the mark when winning the two-mile one-furlong mares’ handicap hurdle on the Pat Fahy-trained You Make Me Smile at Sligo on Friday. The 6/1 chance went clear from the final hurdle to score by six and a half lengths from David Fitzgerald’s 5/2 favourite Jaadil, her third win of the year.

Tony Mullins and County Tyrone conditional jockey Anna McGuinness combined to win the two and a half-mile handicap hurdle with the 4/1 chance Ballycashin at Clonmel on Thursday. A 4/1 chance for owners Cora Greene and Vera Deegan, the eight-year-old led before the second-last hurdle and comfortably held the Liam O’Brien-trained 8/1 shot Dairy Force by a length and a quarter. Jimmy Barcoe and Donagh Meyler were winners with the 5/2 favourite Spellacy’s Cross in the two-mile five-furlong handicap chase. Backing up his win at the course three weeks’ previously, the six-year-old led at the second-last fence and was soon clear to beat Andy Slattery’s 13/2 chance Ceroc by five lengths.

The Emmet Mullins-trained Dippedinmoonlight which landed the 14-furlong maiden at odds of 12/1 at Navan on Wednesday. With Gary Carroll in the saddle, she headed Aidan O’Brien’s 11/10 favourite Lord Byron over a furlong out to score in fine style in the colours of owner Paul Byrne.

Arguably the easiest winner of the day at the Curragh on Tuesday was Willie Mullins’ Sirius which landed the amateur riders’ Derby at odds of 9/2. Owned and ridden by David Dunsdon, the six-year-old was a big eyecatcher closing on the leaders in the straight and she led a furlong out to beat the Andy Slattery-trained 11/2 shot Smooth Tom by three and a quarter lengths.
A narrow success for the 11/4 favourite Mr Tony saw Dylan Browne McMonagle maintain his eight-winner lead in the jockeys’ championship at Gowran Park on Monday.

The Joseph O’Brien-trained two-year-old got up in the final strides to pip Matthew Smith’s 4/1 shot Ella’s Gold by a neck in the seven-furlong nursery handicap, putting the Donegal star on the 94-winner mark for the season. Browne McMonagle’s title rival Colin Keane scored a narrow win of his own when taking the nine-furlong fillies’ maiden on Willie Mullins’ Candleford Green. The Barnane Stud-owned and bred 5/4 shot dug deep to hold Martin Hassett’s 28/1 chance Rocket Robyn by a head.

It was a little easier for the Shane Foley-ridden Mr Vettori which landed the eight-furlong maiden for owner/breeders Newtown Anner Stud Farm. Trained by Jessica Harrington, the 3/1 chance headed Aidan O’Brien’s front-running even money favourite White Sand Beach close to the finish to win by a length and a half.

Three top-flight winners over the weekend brought Aidan O’Brien’s Group 1 tally for the year to 25, leaving him just three short of his 2017 world record of 28 Group and Grade 1 ahead of the Breeders’ Cup in California later this week.

At Doncaster on Saturday, the champion trainer’s Hawk Mountain and Ronan Whelan led home a 1-2-3 for Ballydoyle in the Futurity Stakes while Christophe Soumillon was in the saddle as both Puerto Rico (Criterium International) and Pierre Bonnard (Criterium de Saint-Cloud) scored impressive wins at Saint-Cloud on Sunday.