Trainer Andy Slattery signs off a great week with winner after winner

Andy Slattery made it three winners for the week as the Pat Garvey-trained Cloud Seeker landed the concluding 12-furlong handicap at Leopardstown last Thursday. Ridden by the trainer’s son Andrew, the 7/2 chance got the better of John McConnell’s Hasten Slowly by a neck with Martin Hassett’s 9/4 favourite Valleyoftheeagles the same margin back in third place.

Andy Slattery and his son Andrew had combined to win the eight-furlong handicap with the five-year-old Independent Expert as the Killarney July Festival the previous Monday. Trainer Andy Slattery and Killenaule amateur jockey Adam Ryan won the bumper there with the four-year-old Not Now Darling. 

A runner-up earlier in the day with Kate Knows Best, trainer John Ryan won the two-mile one-furlong handicap chase with the Mark Fleming-owned Gaelic Arc at Killarney on Friday. A 12/1 chance under Sean O'Keeffe, the eight-year-old ran out the clearcut winner when beating 9/2 chance Dancing On My Own, trained by Henry de Bromhead and ridden by Rachael Blackmore, by eight lengths.

The Templemore trainer was on the mark again as the nine-year-old Kilashee won the near three-mile handicap chase in the hands of Shane Fitzgerald. He made all the running on the 11/2 shot which hardly saw a rival as she beat Liam Burke’s 14/1 chance Electric Dreamer by four and a quarter lengths.

While out of luck with narrow runner-up Content in the Group 1 Juddmonte Irish Oaks, Aidan O'Brien saddled two winners at the Curragh on Saturday.

In the day’s feature event, Content and Ryan Moore came with an all-to-late challenge and the 3/1 favourite lost out to Ralph Beckett’s 15/2 shot You Got To Me by three-parts of a length but one that arrived in the nick of time was the Moore-ridden 13/8 shot Tower Of London which reeled in his front-running stable companion Grosvenor Square in the shadows of the post to win the Group 2 Curragh Cup by a length and a quarter.

The Lion In Winter emerged as the new favourite for next season’s Epsom Derby with his debut success in the opening seven-furlong maiden. Ridden by Wayne Lordan, the very well-supported 11/2 chance impressed when picking up inside the final furlong to win by two and a quarter lengths from the Paddy Twomey-trained 7/4 shot Currawood with Ryan Moore’s mount Ideas Of March, the 5/4 favourite a length away in third place.

Johnny Murtagh and Ben Coen shared their second winner in less than 24 hours as Kailasa won the seven-furlong fillies’ maiden. A 9/2 chance, she led in the closing stages to beat Willie McCreery’s 100/30 chance Counterculture by a length and a quarter. The pair were also on the mark with 3/1 chance Masoun in the 10-furlong handicap at Down Royal on Friday evening.

Trainers Edward and Patrick Harty score their second success of the weekend as the Wayne Hassett-ridden Mary Shoelaces took the five-furlong handicap at the Curragh on Sunday. The 12/1 chance led over a furlong from the finish and held the late surge of the Katie McGivern-trained 9/4 favourite Kendall Roy by half a length. Nathan Crosse won the eight-furlong fillies’ handicap with on the Johnny Feane-trained Vera’s Secret.

Another at odds of 12/1, the Jim Browne owned and bred five-year-old had any amount in hand as she raced clear from the furlong pole to score by six and a half lengths from David Marnane’s Alabama Calling with the Feane-trained 7/2 favourite Indigo Five home in third place. The winner was having her first start in a handicap.

At a very different level, Ben Coen wrapped up a good week as he won the Group 3 Meadow Court Stakes on the English challenger Royal Dress. Trained in Newmarket by James Tate, the 16/1 chance lead inside the final furlong to beat Joseph O'Brien’s American Sonja by an easy two and three-parts of a length.

Aidan O'Brien and Ryan Moore ended their weekend on a high as the 13/8 favourite Ephesus made all the running to win the 12-furlong maiden. He beat Joseph O'Brien’s 7/2 chance Rosso into second place by a comfortable length and a half.

Upcoming Fixtures

Ballinrobe – Tuesday, July 23 (First Race 4.45pm)

Naas – Wednesday, July 24 (First Race 4.45pm)

Wexford – Wednesday, July 24 (First Race 2.28pm)

Wexford – Thursday, July 25 (First Race 5.35pm)

Leopardstown – Thursday, July 25 (First Race 5.15pm)

Kilbeggan – Friday, July 26 (First Race 5.15pm)

Cork – Friday, July 26 (First Race 4.50pm)

Gowran Park – Saturday, July 27 (First Race 2.17pm)